Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior has revealed that he is on the verge of signing a new deal with the Spanish champions.
The 21-year-old arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu at the tender age of 18 from Flamengo in the summer of 2018 but initially struggled to fulfil his potential after his £40m arrival.
However, Vinicius has since developed into one of Carlo Ancelotti's star performers and ended the 2021-22 La Liga season with 17 goals and 13 assists from 35 matches.
Only Karim Benzema (27) and Iago Aspas (18) registered more top-flight goals than the Brazil international, whose 13 assists put him level with Ousmane Dembele at the top of that category.
Vinicius has also scored three goals and set up seven more in 12 Champions League matches for Los Blancos so far this term, including contributions against Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City en route to Saturday's final with Liverpool.
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Vinicius signed a six-year deal with Real Madrid upon his arrival in 2018, and those terms are therefore due to expire at the end of the 2023-24 season.
However, Real have been determined to tie Vinicius down to a new contract amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain, and the South American has now revealed that an agreement is close.
"Paris Saint-Germain interested in me? I want to stay at Real Madrid. I'm close to a contract renewal," Vinicius told reporters, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.
PSG will wave goodbye to the departing Angel Di Maria this summer, but their need for attacking reinforcements has lessened following Kylian Mbappe's contract renewal.
Vinicius's new contract with Los Blancos will reportedly run until the summer of 2028, and the ex-Flamengo starlet has amassed 35 goals and 43 assists in 169 matches for Real Madrid so far.
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Vinicius has already won two La Liga titles, the Club World Cup and two Supercopa de Espana titles with the capital club, and Ancelotti hailed the youngster's "humility" ahead of the Champions League final.
"I'm not saying the quality because I knew it, but the continuity of Vini Jr. and the humility of the players I haven't seen since 2014 and who in this time have won three other Champions Leagues and have maintained that humility, seriousness and professionalism and that is an example for newcomers," Ancelotti told reporters at a press conference.
As well as Vinicius, Ancelotti has also confirmed that Eden Hazard will be staying at the club for the 2022-23 season, but Marco Asensio's future is more uncertain.
The 26-year-old has struggled for regular starts on the right-hand side over Rodrygo and Federico Valverde and sees his contract with the club expire in 2023.
A switch to England or Italy has been strongly mooted for Asensio, and Real are allegedly keeping tabs on the situation of Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry as they search for a replacement.
Ben Knapton
