Vinicius Junior becomes joint most valuable player in the world – The rise of the Brazilian star

​

Now worth €180m 

Only seven players have scored in two or more separate Champions League finals in the modern era (since 1992/93). Vinicius Junior is already one of them at just 23 years of age. In both finals his Real Madrid team lifted the trophy. The Brazilian capped off another superb season, in which he scored 21 goals and provided 11 assists, with a +€30m upgrade in the latest La Liga market value update to take his value to €180m and make him the joint most valuable player in the world alongside Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.

The silky winger was awarded man of the match in Madrid’s 2-0 Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, as he dazzled his opponents and brought the crowd to their feet with his trickery and guile. Vinicius has already won two Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles. The world is at his feet. Should he manage to add the Copa América to his Champions League this season with Brazil this summer, he is sure to be favourite for this year’s Ballon d’Or. It’s been quite the journey since coming through at Flamengo. A meteoric rise for a generational talent.

The market value development of Vinicius Junior

The signing of Vinicius represented a development in Real Madrid’s transfer strategy. ‘Los Blancos’ brought the Brazilian when he was just 18 years of age for a €45m transfer fee from Brazilian side Flamengo. The Spanish giants were changing their approach to focus on bringing through young stars and developing their potential, and indeed it took some time for Vinicius to bear his fruits in European football. Nevertheless, he was always signed as ‘one for the future’ and had already shown great promise at Flamengo scoring 14 goals for the Brazilian side as a teenager.

During his first two seasons in the Spanish capital, Vinicius failed to nail down a starting place in the team. He started just 23 La Liga games in those initial two campaigns, and came under some criticism in the media for his performances. As you can see in the graph above, having seen his market value rocket to €70m after making the move, he was downgraded to €40m in 2021. Indicative of his difficult transition. Understandably it was taking time to adjust to the pressures of a new life at one of the biggest clubs, if not the biggest, in world football.

It was in the 2021/22 season that Vinicius really began to show his worth. The Brazilian scored 21 goals and provided a further 22 assists, as he scored the winner against Liverpool in Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League final win and really announced himself on the world stage. He saw his market value to rise to €100m at the end of that campaign. After repeating similar numbers the following term, Vinicius’ market value hit €150m. And now after fully cementing his place at the top table of world football, he becomes the joint most valuable player of the world this June at €180m.

It’s the first occasion since 2004 that the title of the planet’s MVP is shared by four players. Three of them now belong to Real Madrid with the pending arrival of Frenchman Mbappé. Tobias Blaseio, who is part of Transfermarkt’s Spanish team and responsible for the market value update explains the reasons behind Vinicius’ rise: “Vinicius has gradually worked his way up to the world elite and now makes the difference in important matches. The fact that he is now also a serious candidate to win the Ballon d’Or shows that he has taken a final step towards the top. Speed, technique, definition: he has improved in all the key aspects of the game.” Vinicius is now level as the most valuable Brazilian player of all-time alongside Neymar back in 2018.

Could Vinicius Junior win this season’s Ballon D’or? – the view from Brazil

Marcos Watts is Transfermarkt’s area manager in Brazil, and has watched Vinicius’ rise right from the beginning. He tells us why he deserves to now be the world’s joint MVP: “Vinicius Junior has proven time and time again that he belongs in the absolute highest shelf of current footballers. It was only a matter of time until he reached the top of the world in terms of market value.” Watts explained and he also feels Vincius’ fine season should perhaps be rewarded with the ultimate individual prize of the Ballon D’or, “Despite being heavily criticised since his move to Real Madrid and even doubted over his capability of playing for the biggest club in the world, Vinicius has silenced his doubters. He’s been the club’s most influential player (on and off the pitch) for a couple of seasons now and has been racking up numbers in the 2023/24 campaign – a season worthy of a Ballon d’Or.”

In support of Vinicius winning such an accolade, Watts added, “Now, not only is he a two-time UCL champion with Real Madrid, but he’s also the first Brazilian to ever score in two UCL finals – a special achievement that gives him some credit in the ‘Brazil’s best all-time top footballers’ discussion.” Watts  revealed however that Vinicius has underperformed at international level, “As for the Brazilian national team, Vini Jr still has a lot to prove. There’s hope among the Brazilian people that he will become a team leader and more reliable as Neymar once was – but those are big boots to fill. He’s already showing signs of being capable of leading the ‘Seleção’ to glory, but he’s still far from the player he is at Madrid when it comes to representing his country – which has a massive impact on where he ranks amongst Brazil’s greats for the time being.”

Real Madrid now have four of the top 10 most valuable players in the world

It’s not just Vinicius who has been making waves at the Santiago Bernabéu this season. Following the June La Liga market value update and the pending acquisition of Mbappé, Real Madrid will now become the first club of all time to have seven players valued at €100m or more. Vinicius (€180m), Mbappé (€180m), Bellingham (€180m), Federico Valverde (€120m), Rodrygo (€110m), Eduardo Camavinga ( €100m), and Aurelien Tchouameni (€100m) are all part of that exclusive group.

Real Madrid as a club went up by +€86m in market value from the update, and are now the second most valuable club in the world at €1.11 billion. When we officially add Mbappé to their squad on July 1, they will be just €20m behind Manchester City who are the most valuable club in the world at €1.32b. It’s a squad that is brimming with talent and will take some stopping in next season’s Champions League as they look to retain the top European trophy.