Vinicius Jr. makes fun of Barcelona after Real Madrid beats rivals to coveted signing

Real Madrid CF beat eternal rivals FC Barcelona to the signature of teenage sensation Arda Guler from Fenerbahce, and Vinicius Junior can't help but gloat on social media.

The Brazilian was among the Real Madrid players who welcomed the 18-year-old to the Santiago Bernabeu, where he has been locked down for the next six seasons. The Turkish youngster had not really been linked with Real Madrid for the most part in the months heading into the summer. Instead, he was heavily linked with a move to Catalunya despite having a number of other suitors.

He was labelled as another "Lionel Messi in the making due" to the similarity of his playing style with the Barcelona legend, hence making him an attractive signing for the La Liga champions. However, the player made the decision to join Los Blancos instead, getting the deal over the line quickly and completely trashing any conversations that had taken place with Barcelona.

Real Madrid made the formal announcement on Thursday, and Vinicius shared the post with the caption, "Another one who chose the greatest." Clearly, he was referring to the player's decision to join Real Madrid over the other clubs that showed interest, including of course, FC Barcelona.

When he said "another one," Vinicius is referring to a number of other players who made the same decision, including himself and fellow Brazilians Rodrygo Goes and Endrick. They were all pursued by Barcelona as promising youth players before making the decision to don the famous white shirt instead.

Fenerbahce also angry over player's decision

Real Madrid's coup was apparently not a simple matter of putting one over their Catalan rivals. As it turns out, Arda Guler's former team, Fenerbahce, are also unhappy about the player's decision.

The Turkish club knew that the teenager was in high demand, and they had already been resigned to the fact that he would eventually move on to one of the bigger European teams. They had lengthy conversations with Barcelona, and agreed to a deal that would allow Guler to continue playing in Turkey for another season.

Basically, Barcelona would sign the player for a move in the summer of 2024, allowing Fenerbahce to keep their star for another full season before seeing him out the exit door. The arrangement was made to also allow Barcelona to get their finances in order and make room to be able to register Guler when he arrives.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Fenerbahce president Ali Koc is livid that the player made the decision to leave this summer instead.

No one can blame the player for making that decison though, even if Barcelona are the current La Liga champions. The club's financial situation has seen them struggling to stay within the salary cap dictated by La Liga's Financial Fair Play regulations. They have also been slashing their wage bill by offloading players and re-negotiating the salaries of their existing high earners.

In fact, Barcelona president Joan Laporta recently admitted that the club is still paying Lionel Messi despite the fact that the Argentine left the club two years ago. The back payments represent deferred salaries that the club had to negotiate with the player when their financial crisis came to light.

Guler set to establish his place in the first team squad

Guler's future is still the subject of speculations despite having signed with Real Madrid. The club has signed a number of promising young talents in the past, before sending them off immediately on loan to gain more experience with other clubs. However, according to Diario AS, the youngster will not be shipped off in the coming season. Instead, he will stay with the first team and get a chance to prove himself to manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Guler has been given the shirt number 24, leaving open the number nine that was left available by Karim Benzema. Real Madrid had already signed five players so far this season, but the number nine shirt remains up for grabs and the football world is collectively holding its breath to see if there could be a blockbuster Galactico signing in the coming weeks. Needless to say, that man could be Kylian Mbappe if his relationship with PSG reaches a breaking point over his refusal to extend beyond 2024.