This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Ronaldinho is one of the universally beloved former stars in the world of football. And even though he is also part of the Barcelona faithful, having spent the best years of his career at the Catalan club, recently, in a pre-match press conference ahead of an exhibition game, the Brazilian talked about Real Madrid’s 19-year-old talent, as reported by EFE (via Marca).
What did he say?
It’s strange seeing a Barcelona legend talked extensively about a big Real Madrid talent but the thing that connects Ronaldinho to Vinicius Junior is their nationality.
Both the young star and the retired veteran are Brazilians and it doesn’t really come as a surprise to hear the now 39-year-old ex-Blaugrana icon shower Los Blancos’ talent with such praise.
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Ronaldinho mentioned how Vinicius is already playing for a big club and then went on to say he will become one of the world’s best in the not so distant future.
Here’s what he said in full:
“[Vinicius] is already at one of the best clubs in the world. I think he will soon be there, among the best.”
A hidden gem
Vinicius had a rocky start to his Real Madrid career, to say the least.
After a brilliant first season in which he managed to score seven goals and assist a further 13, it unfortunately all went downhill for the young talent.
Of course, a big part of that was actually an unlucky injury as Vinicius was sidelined by a ruptured knee ligament, making him miss out on nine games in total and more importantly, stopping his red-hot form altogether.
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And he’s been struggling to truly reach those heights once again.
In the ongoing 2019/20 season, the Brazilian has only managed to accumulate 313 minutes in a total of seven games across all competitions so far, scoring one goal and assisting another in the process.
And sure enough, when his form went down and he started struggling, the alarm bells were all ringing in the media for quite a while.
But Ronaldinho seems to believe Vinicius is destined for greatness and if the 2018/19 campaign and his stint at Flamengo, during which he scored ten goals and assisted four in 49 games, are any indication, the talent and the potential are certainly there.
Real Madrid have a true gem on their hands and it will be up to them to groom him properly so he can become one of the best players in the world.
Ronaldinho seems to believe that is possible so why shouldn’t Real Madrid believe it as well?
