Vinicius Junior, who had emerged as an Arsenal target, is now expected to turn down a move to London and instead commit his future to Real Madrid by signing a new contract. The forward triggered widespread speculation on Wednesday after clearing his social media history, but his strong equation with manager Jose Mourinho has influenced his final call. Arsenal are now likely to see their ambitious move end unsuccessfully.

Real Madrid have persuaded Vinicius to dismiss Arsenal's approach.

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

Real Madrid are becoming more and more confident about keeping the player after offering a major salary rise that would take his earnings to £18.5 million per year.

Negotiations over an extension to his current deal, which runs until next June, originally started in January 2025. Arsenal had made a strong push to pull off a stunning transfer and were prepared to match his original wage demands, but the revised offer from the Spanish giants has completely altered the direction of these lengthy talks.

Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed a significant breakthrough over Vinicius' future. The well-known journalist said the forward is extremely close to putting pen to paper on a long-term extension. Real Madrid have consistently wanted the matter resolved quickly in order to avoid a prolonged 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."

Even with the growing confidence, Vinicius created huge uncertainty on Wednesday night by suddenly wiping his entire Instagram history. His account, which has nearly 64 million followers, now shows zero images. A social media blackout of that scale often points to unhappiness, which only intensified rumours of a possible move to Arsenal. However, Mourinho considers him a key part of the plans for the upcoming campaign.

At the same time, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta recently set out his plans for the transfer window and made it clear that his squad is looking to strengthen. 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 are expecting Vinicius to formally confirm his acceptance of the new contract offer within the next few hours. Once all the paperwork is fully completed and signed, the club will make the long-term extension official. Arsenal, meanwhile, will need to quickly turn their attention towards alternative targets in the transfer market before the summer window shuts.