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Arsenal target Vinicius Junior is expected to turn down a move to London and instead commit his future to Real Madrid by signing a new contract. The forward triggered major speculation on Wednesday after deleting his social media history, but his strong bond with manager Jose Mourinho has influenced his final call. Arsenal are now likely to see their ambitious chase end in disappointment.

Real Madrid convince Vinicius to reject Arsenal approach

According to Sky Sports News, Vinicius is set to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu after very positive talks with Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Spanish club are reported to have improved their contract proposal to the attacker during meetings held at their training ground.

Real Madrid are becoming increasingly confident of keeping the player after offering a significant pay rise, which would take his salary to £18.5 million per year.

Negotiations over an extension to his current deal, which expires next June, first started in January 2025. Arsenal had pushed strongly to pull off a stunning transfer and were ready to match his original wage demands, but the revised offer from the Spanish giants has completely altered the direction of these long-running discussions.

Romano confirms major contract breakthrough

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the major breakthrough over Vinicius' future. The well-known journalist said the attacker is now extremely close to agreeing a long-term extension. Real Madrid have always wanted the matter resolved as quickly as possible to avoid a lengthy summer saga.

Romano said: "My understanding is that after a face-to-face meeting today in Madrid between Vinicius, his agents from Roc Nation and [the] Real Madrid board, the agreement for Vinicius to stay at Real Madrid and sign a new contract is getting really close. Vinicius is increasingly closer to staying at Real Madrid and signing a new contract."

Social media blackout and Arsenal ambitions

In spite of the growing optimism, Vinicius created huge uncertainty on Wednesday night by suddenly wiping his entire Instagram history. The account, which has nearly 64 million followers, currently shows zero images. A social media blackout of that scale often points to unrest, which only added to rumours of a possible move to Arsenal. However, Mourinho sees him as a crucial part of his plans for the coming campaign.

Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta recently set out his plans for the transfer window and made it clear that his squad is actively looking for reinforcements. Arteta said: "We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously. We want to get better like anybody else, and you can see the transfer market and our opponents... We won't sit still and we are very ambitious with what we are doing. The margins are very small. Because we want to get better and the level is going to increase."

What happens next?

Real Madrid expect Vinicius to formally communicate his final acceptance of the new contract offer within the next few hours. Once all the paperwork is signed, the club will confirm the long-term extension. Arsenal, meanwhile, will have to quickly switch their attention to alternative targets in the transfer market before the summer window shuts.