John Obi Mikel has ridiculed Arsenal's ambition to sign Vinicius Junior, claiming the club are not 'one of the big boys' despite their recent Premier League title win.
Vinicius Junior stays at Real Madrid
The Gunners were heavily linked with the Brazilian forward earlier this summer in what would have been a club-record move. With Vinicius' contract winding down, the Premier League champions looked to capitalise on the uncertainty surrounding his future at the Bernabeu.
However, the player ultimately decided to extend his stay at Real Madrid, leaving Arsenal to explore other options to strengthen their attack.
Mikel's criticism
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Mikel said: "I don’t know what the Arsenal fans were expecting. You win the league after 22 years and then you all of a sudden think: that’s it, you’ve arrived, you’re one of the big boys again. No, you’re not."
He added: "They’ve just been humbled because I said it: there’s no way Vinicius Junior is leaving Real Madrid to go to Arsenal, a club that’s won one title in 22 years. This guy wins titles, he’s won lots of titles at Real Madrid. He wants to win titles season after season, the Champions League, La Liga, competing year after year and winning those titles."
Mikel also highlighted Arsenal's lack of Champions League success, stating: "He’s tasted what it feels like winning the Champions League, Arsenal have never won the Champions League. Zero. You expect a player who has won the Champions League with Real Madrid to leave that."
Transfer activity
Mikel believes Real Madrid, now managed by Jose Mourinho, are building a squad capable of challenging for the Champions League again. They have already signed Ibrahima Konate, Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, and Yan Diomande.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have added Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle for £75m, their biggest capture of the summer so far, and remain in the market for a major forward signing.
