Vinicius Jr: better record than Neymar, Coutinho and Jesus
Real Madrid's new signing, still playing for Flamengo ahead of his big-money move to LaLiga, is impressing with his skills and numbers, outshining the early days of other stars. The USA vs. Ecuador live and direct: Friendly FIFA Date
Vinicius Jr. is currently the biggest prospect coming out of Brazilian football, although there is competition for that accolade. At the tender age of 16, Spanish giants Real Madrid agreed to pay 45 million euros for the player's rights but left him on loan at Flamengo so that he could continue with his development. As his professional career has started to take shape, the young star has already clocked up some numbers that outshine those of some current world stars when they were at a similar stage.
Vinicius trumps young Neymar and Coutinho
Analysis undertaken by Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte highlights the early performances of Vinicius, who has started as a professional better than PSG's Neymar, Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho or Gabriel Jesus, the Manchester City striker taking the Premier League by storm. He has not yet reached 1,500 minutes as professional (he has only accumulated 1,380), but the player currently wearing the Flamengo black-and-white has scored more goals than the other three stars after they completed 1,500.
Vinicius has eight goals while Neymar, with that experience, notched up seven, the same as Gabriel Jesus. Coutinho only scored five in his first 3,000 minutes.
Decisive goals for Neymar and Jesus
However, in Brazil they have added a 'but' to these figures for Vinicius as his goals have not been as decisive. Only two of the Real Madrid man's goals have had a key influence on the outcome of the game. Neymar, on the other hand, scored four important goals while all seven of Gabriel Jesús's goals had a decisive impact.
So, what does this foretell about the future of Vinicius Jr and the potential that can be released when he joins the might of Los Blancos? It would probably be wise not to put too much onus on these figures at this stage of his development. Each of the other players mentioned have reached football's pinnacle via different paths and many other bright young prospects have fallen off theirs, never to be heard of again. Vinicius is showing great promise, time will tell how the story ends...
