Real Madrid and Vinicius Jr’s relationship was recently thrown into crisis mode according to Relevo, which cited anonymous sources.
Vinicius became angry about an official social media post the club made, which showed the 23-year-old kissing Los Blancos’ badge.
This is in itself would usually be harmless, but the publication also contained a sticker of the Israeli trance DJ duo Vini Vici’s logo showing the evolution from ape to human.
Relevo explains that the post was barely up for half an hour, but that was more than enough time as Vinicius had already noticed it and therefore became furious.
According to the Spanish website, the Brazilian called the club and threatened not to travel to the Mestalla for Madrid’s 2-2 draw against Valencia in which he scored a brace.
Madrid’s general director Jose Angel Sanchez had to intervene to calm Vinicius, who had demanded that action be taken against those responsible.
Madrid managed to keep a lid on the incident, with the post was made two days before the match that ended in controversy and a red-card to his teammate Jude Bellingham.
The game was also Vinicius’ first trip to the Mestalla since suffering racist abuse there last season, and came amid controversy over a request for Netflix to be allowed access to the stadium to film a documentary about the winger’s reception there.
Vinicius has again been in the headlines this week for incidents centered around racist abuse.
A video uploaded to social media appeared to show fans of his team’s crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid making offensive chants about him, and calling Vinicius a ‘chimpanzee’, ahead of Diego Simeone’s men knocking Inter Milan out of the Champions League last 16 on penalties.
The incident caused Vinicius to head to X, formerly known as Twitter, and demand action from European governing body UEFA.
“I hope you’ve already thought about their punishment Champions League, UEFA,” Vinicius tweeted. “It’s a sad reality this happens even at matches I’m not at.”
To Reuters, a UEFA spokesperson explained: “If the chants took place within the stadium or its precinct, then the disciplinary body will assess reports from the match.”