For the next few weeks, and maybe longer, Arsenal will be the but of opposing fans “banter” having missed out on Vinicius Jr.

The truth is, there is no shame in going to Real Madrid and failing to sign one of their best players. Arsenal were close. Very close. And in the end Madrid had to offer Vinicius Jr “huge money” to keep him.

There is no debate that Real Madrid are the biggest club in world football. A team that almost every player would love to play for in their career. Their pull is huge, as is the salaries they can pay. And they have a history of going into the elite English clubs and plucking whichever stars they want.

Liverpool have, for a long time, been a place Real Madrid shop for free. Quite ironic when you consider Liverpool fans have a history of not paying when in Europe!

In 1999, Madrid signed Steve McManaman for nothing from Liverpool. McManaman became the first high-profile English player to leave a club on a free transfer via the Bosman ruling. Since then, they have repeated the trick with Trent Alexander Arnold (although they did pay a nominal fee to get him before the Club world Cup) and, this summer, Ibrahima Konaté.

Real Madrid also signed Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen from Liverpool and Xabi Alonso.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the best player in the world when Real Madrid decided they wanted him. They paid a then world record £80m to secure their man. the fact that Man U had won 3 Premier League titles in a row, a Champions League the previous summer, and were the richest club in the world at that point was not enough to keep Ronaldo out of the grasp of Madrid.

Before Ronaldo, there was David Beckham.

At the time, the Englishman was the biggest name in football. Real Madrid wanted the boyhood Man U fan. They got him. Thus proving that is did not really matter about your ties to the club, the money you could pay or success you were having, if Madrid wanted your players they almost always got them.

And the same happened when Real Madrid wanted Eden Hazard. They had no issues recruiting Chelsea’s best player – although the transfer did end up as a bit of a disaster.

Thibaut Courtois is another Madrid poached from Chelsea. He was arguably the best keeper in the world at the time and he basically refused to turn up to training to force through the move, despite playing for Madrid’s city rivals Atletico previously.

And what Madrid have done to Liverpool on numerous occasions, they have also done to Chelsea – signing Antonio Rudiger on a free.

Following the signing of Luka Modric, Daniel Levy announced that Tottenham had agreed a special partnership with Real Madrid. That partnership involved Madrid returning two years later to sign Gareth Bale. In exchanged, Tottenham could send youngsters to Madrid on summer camps.

It is only really Manchester City who have avoided being invaded by Real Madrid. Their only big dealing was signing Robinho for Madrid in a transfer that kicked off the Abu Dhabi era.

As for Arsenal, we famously sold Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid back in 1999. Le Sulk manufacturing a move that ended up paying for a new training ground and opened a door for us to sign Thierry Henry a year later. The other two big deals involving the clubs were Arsenal signing Mesut Ozil and Martin Odegaard. Ozil at the time being one of the best midfielders in the world and Odegaard being one of the most highly rated young midfielders.

In the last 12 months, we have reportedly rebuffed Madrid’s advances for William Saliba and Ricardo Calafiori. We said no. the players said. It is the same as what has happened with Vinicius Jr.

So whilst we may lick our wounds about not signing Vini Jr, we can sleep easily knowing that whilst we are trying to sign Madrid’s best players, the Spanish giants have a history of signing the best players from our rivals.

UTA

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