What Arsenal stars have already said about Vinicius Jr transfer 'dream'

Real Madrid star has a number of fans already inside the Gunners dressing room

The Gunners are interested in signing the 26-year-old but face a waiting game as he holds contract talks with Real Madrid.

Vinicius Jr has entered the final 12 months of his existing deal at the Bernabeu and so far a breakthrough has not been made on an extension.

That has left Arsenal monitoring the situation and they would make a move if given encouragement by the Brazilian's representatives.

It would take a huge financial package but it is understood that the Gunners are ready to make Vinicius Je by far the best-paid player in the club's history.

Arsenal's interest is still at a very early stage and there is every chance that Vinicius Jr decides to stay at Real.

However, Odegaard is among the Arsenal players who will desperately hoping the club's hierarchy can pull off the transfer this summer.

In an interview with TV 2 last year, Odegaard revealed that Vinicius Jr would be his dream signing for the Gunners.

"I just said that Vinicius Jr is the best in the world so it’s natural to take him," the Arsenal captain said.

That is an opinion shared by Vinicius Jr’s international team-mate Gabriel.

The Brazilian duo have a close relationship and regularly send supportive comments to each other on Instagram.

When Vinicius Jr missed out on the Ballon d'Or to Rodri in 2024, Gabriel quickly took to social media to deliver his own verdict.

Alongside a picture of Vinicius Jr, Gabriel added an emoji of a gold medal with the caption: "Melhor do mundo!!!"

That translates to: 'Best in the world'.

With Christos Tzolis signing for Arsenal this summer and the club still pushing to sign another winger, Gabriel Martinelli's future at the club is far from certain.

Martinelli's contract expires next summer but the Gunners have the option to extend that by a further 12 months.

If Arsenal did sign Vinicius Jr, the club would need to free up room on the wage bill and a significant offer for Martinelli would be considered.

However, Martinelli has made it clear he would like to play alongside Vinicius Jr at club level as well.

Speaking while on international duty in 2024, when Vinicius Jr was the firm favourite for the Ballon d'Or, Martinelli said: “It is a great pride to play with Vinicius Jr, to be with him every day as well.

“I see a special boy who deserves it. In my opinion, he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or,”