Vallejo opens up about Vinícius and his attitude during Real Madrid's training sessions

One of the main protagonists of Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid is Vinícius Jr. The Tolosa coach faces the huge challenge of restoring the best level of the Brazilian footballer, one of the unsolved issues for Carlo Ancelotti during last season. The substitution against Real Oviedo may have acted as a powerful message for the merengue's number "7".

While it's true that he still seems far from his best performance levels, Vinícius is starting to show promising signs of progress, such as his goal scored against Real Mallorca. One of the latest statements about the Real Madrid player comes from one of his former teammates, who has recently left Santiago Bernabéu locker room.

In his latest public appearance on "Los amigos de Edu", Jesús Vallejo has revealed what Vinícius is like when there are no cameras pointing at him, during training, among teammates. The former merengue center-back, now at Albacete, points out that "he can once again deliver tremendous performance, I hope so, because I've seen unbelievable things in training".

Jesús Vallejo recalls that "when I've had to face him in training I had to prepare down to the last detail and be physically perfect to stop him" effectively. "I wish that he can recover that good level because he's going to keep bringing joy to Madridists, he's going to feel better, more connected with his game," he notes.

A very different person

"In training he doesn't have those attitudes, in training I saw that he trained very well", says Jesús Vallejo, when asked by Edu Aguirre, regarding Vinícius's attitude. "He's a good guy, very competitive too", acknowledges the former merengue number "18". One reason for his behavior on the field may lie in "his explosive playing style and the fact that he's an anarchic player in some game situations", Vallejo recalls.

That's why, the center-back understands, "maybe that's also why he extrapolates it to the attitudes you've mentioned with the stands and all that". Despite everything, the former Real Madrid player is clear that Vinícius is one of the best footballers on the planet. "By polishing those details, he's just an unbelievable player", concludes the defender from Zaragoza.

Thus, it's clear that Vinícius is a completely different footballer from the one you might see through the cameras in certain matches. His gestures are responses to provocations like those experienced at Carlos Tartiere, where the crowd chanted "fool, fool" after he was booked, whistled every time he appeared on screen... and even tried to mock his defeat in the 2024 Ballon d'Or with beach balls.

Jesús Vallejo hints that Vinícius's true potential, already seen in previous seasons, is still very much present in the boots of the verdeamarelo striker. It's only necessary that, as happened in the 21/22 season, he can unlock it again to raise the performance of the squad now coached by Xabi Alonso.