Vinicius Jr has scored once in eight La Liga appearances this season and his Transfermarkt valuation has slid from €200m in October 2024 to €130m, a 35% drop.

TV2 Sport analyst Uffe Bech is not buying the decline story. He told TV2 Sport that the premise of the whole debate is wrong.

“I take the liberty of disagreeing with the premise that he is not the same player,” Bech said.

His counter runs on the data. Vinicius scored more La Liga goals in 2025-26 than he did in 2023-24, the season he finished runner-up to Rodri in the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

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“On the contrary, Vinicius actually scored more goals in La Liga last season than in the season he was a Ballon d’Or candidate,” Bech said.

He went further on the award itself.

“I think the title of world’s best footballer was significantly cheaper to come by in the 2023/24 season,” he said, with Lamine Yamal’s emergence and the continued output of Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane now crowding the top tier.

The star next to him is the story

Bech’s central claim is simpler than any xG model.

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“I think many are a bit deceived by the fact that he used to be Real Madrid’s biggest star. Now Kylian Mbappé is the biggest star,” he told TV2 Sport.

Transfermarkt agrees in euros. Mbappé is now valued at €200m, the figure Vinicius himself commanded at his peak, and tops the list of the most expensive players at Real Madrid.

“In my book, Vinicius is still the world’s second-best dribbler after Lamine Yamal,” Bech said.

Mourinho has already seen the other version

The internal mood at Real Madrid is less dismissive than the market. According to beIN Sports, head coach José Mourinho said in September that there is a version of Vinicius capable of deciding the biggest matches, and that the Brazilian had not reached that level this season.

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Spanish coverage is pressing on the physical side. Mundiario reports that Vinicius has lost some sharpness in his one-on-ones and that his presence inside the box has been less continuous, pointing to the half-time substitution Carlo Ancelotti used in Brazil’s 4-0 win over India as evidence that the concern has crossed the Atlantic.

The next test is already in the diary. Barcelona host Real Madrid at Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday 25 October in the first Clásico of the 2026-27 season, kick-off at 9pm local time.

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