Vinicius Jr appears to aim dig at Barcelona with cheeky welcome tweet after Real Madrid sign Arda Guler

[L-to-R] Vinicius Junior, Arda Guler and Xavi Hernandez.
[L-to-R] Vinicius Junior, Arda Guler and Xavi Hernandez.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has seemingly taken a dig at rivals Barcelona with his welcome message for his side's latest signing, Arda Guler.

On Thursday, July 6, Los Blancos announced that they had signed Guler from Fenerbahce SK. Transfer news specialist Fabrizio Romano confirmed that the 18-year-old had joined on a six-year deal.

Romano also added that the Spanish giants had paid €20 million for the youngster, with further add-ons as well as a 20% sell-on clause.

Real Madrid took to Twitter to announce Guler's arrival and the post was re-tweeted by Vinicius, who captioned it with (translated from Spanish):

"One more that chooses the largest 🤍😍"

Many viewed this as a dig at Barcelona, who were previously linked with Vinicius and Rodrygo Goes. Both players ended up joining Los Blancos instead and history repeated itself once again this summer.

The Blaugrana had been in conversations with Fenerbahce for quite some time over Guler. They had also reportedly agreed personal terms with the attacker, who was set to join them in the summer of 2024.

However, Real Madrid swooped in a few days back and moved swiftly to convince the player to join them immediately.


Real Madrid benefit at Barcelona's expense by signing the extremely talented Arda Guler

As mentioned earlier, Barcelona were believed to be in pole position to sign Arda Guler. However, their financial issues seemingly got in their way once again, providing an opening for Real Madrid to make their move.

Guler joined Fenerbahce SK's youth set-up back in February 2019. In the next two-and-a-half years, the youngster rose from their youth teams to the U16s, U19s and finally the senior team. He was particularly brilliant for the U19 side, recording 14 goals and 13 assists in 30 matches (via Transfermarkt).

Guler made his senior debut during the 2021-22 campaign and ended up featuring 16 times across competitions. He then played 35 matches last season, registering six goals and seven assists while also lifting the Turkish Cup.

Impressively, Guler has already won four caps for Turkey, having made his debut for them in November 2022. He featured in both of their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers last month and even scored his first international goal in a 2-0 win over Wales.

As per Mundo Deportivo (via International Business Times), Fenerbahce president Ali Koc is upset over Guler departing this summer instead of next year.

Real Madrid won't mind, though, as they seem to have picked up an incredible talent with a high upside. Doing it at Barcelona's expense will certainly be pleasing for the club's board and fans as well.

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