Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has admitted that he would have forced a move away from the Spanish giants if he were Vinicius Junior, citing the repeated racial abuse and hostility the Brazilian winger has faced.
Vinicius was sent off during Madrid’s victory over Villarreal last weekend for pulling an opponent’s hair and received a four-match suspension, ruling him out of the Clasico against Barcelona on October 25.
The 26-year-old has also endured repeated incidents of racial abuse from opposition supporters since joining Real Madrid in 2018.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mourinho praised the winger’s character and resilience despite the challenges he has encountered.
“He’s a spectacular kid who it’s easy to have a good relationship with,” Mourinho said.
“He’s a fantastic boy, tremendous credit to him for the fact that he keeps living and surviving and still having a smile…”
The coach added that he would have considered leaving the club during the summer if he were in Vinicius’s position.
“If it were me in his place, probably I wouldn’t be here. In this last summer I would have forced an exit to a league, a country, to somewhere there are rival clubs and stadiums that respect him.”
Vinicius, however, committed his future to Real Madrid by signing a contract extension that runs until 2032.
Questions also remain over how Madrid can accommodate Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham in the same attacking setup without compromising the team’s overall balance.
Mourinho maintained that Vinicius’s affection for the club and the city influenced his decision to stay.
“Because he loves Real Madrid, for loving the club and the city, for believing that things can always improve, he renewed and he keeps on smiling,” he added.
“No one or nobody can… well, influence him negatively yes, because he’s human… but take away his joy of living and working and being with his team-mates, no, no one can do that.”
Mourinho substituted Vinicius during Madrid’s 4-3 Champions League victory over Roma on Wednesday, as the winger continues his efforts to rediscover the form that helped him win the competition twice under Carlo Ancelotti.
The coach also expressed relief that Vinicius received a four-match suspension, saying he had feared the Spanish football federation’s disciplinary committee might impose a longer ban.
Mourinho suggested that unnamed figures within the committee “would give him one or two more”.
Mourinho Comments on Tebas Controversy
Madrid are scheduled to face Sevilla on Sunday as they seek to avoid falling further behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, who have won every match this season and hold a six-point advantage over fourth-placed Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants and Mourinho have previously criticised refereeing decisions following several results, including their 2-1 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid in September.
On Friday, Real Madrid called for La Liga president Javier Tebas to resign after he compared the club’s attempts to discredit referees to the propaganda methods of Nazi official Joseph Goebbels.
Tebas subsequently clarified that his remarks referred to “those propaganda techniques” rather than Nazi ideology.
Asked about the controversy, Mourinho declined to elaborate but stressed that certain comments were unacceptable.
“I don’t want to talk about this, there are limits and there are limits. You can only excuse it if it’s a clinical case — otherwise there’s no excuse,” he said.
He added that Real Madrid and its supporters understood the challenges facing the club, while urging those involved to protect Spanish football’s international reputation.
“For the prestige that the league has abroad, for being the current world champions, it’s better if we try to keep this here and not let it get out (to the world),” Mourinho concluded.
