"Vinicius was going to Barca, his agents betrayed us at last minute"

Vinicius Junior is finally starting to shine at Real Madrid. He was indisputably the star man both against Liverpool and in 'El Clasico' and it has emerged that he could have easily been in the Barca team for that match. 

Barcelona's former scout for Brazilian football Andre Cury told 'Sport' what happened. "We were three years ahead of them. His agents betrayed us as they had agreed a deal with Barcelona. 15 days before signing for Madrid, Vinicius said in Brazil that he was going to Barca and that his idol was Neymar," he said. 

"His agents and Vinicius' father were in Barcelona and Wagner Ribeiro called Florentino (Perez) with the news. He invited them to go to Madrid on Saturday. We were told they would go, but that nothing would happen because the footballer was going to Barcelona. There was a verbal agreement. They returned, shook hands, struck the deal and then disappeared," Cury mentioned regarding Vinicius' transfer.

The man at that time responsible for Barca's South American signings said that Rodrygo was also about to join Barcelona before going to Real Madrid. "I'd known him for quite some time and he had the profile of a player fit for Barca. The club met him twice here in Brazil with the Santos president. Real Madrid did not fully trust Vinicius and they feared they had bought the wrong player and that Barca would get the right one. That is why they have two players of the same age, in the same position and both taking up non-EU spots."

Cury concluded saying that Real Madrid paid much more than what Barcelona had agreed. "It was 18 million euros for Vinicius and 20 for Rodrygo. Madrid spent 60 on Vinicius and 65 for Rodrygo. Despite everything, Rodrygo's father called me saying that he preferred to go to Barca if we reached a deal with Santos, but that Barca didn't want to put more money on the table."