Vinicius rubbishes PSG links after Real Madrid defeat

Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior has dismissed speculation over a move to Paris Saint-Germain, insisting he wants to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Vinicius was linked with PSG in January with the Ligue 1 champions’ sporting director Leonardo a reported admirer of his fellow Brazilian.

However, Vinicius has no plans to leave La Liga giants Madrid, where the 19-year-old only arrived in 2018.

Speaking after Thursday’s shock 4-3 Copa del Rey quarter-final loss to Real Sociedad, Vinicius insisted a possible move away simply wasn’t an option.

“There’s no choice, I want to stay at Madrid,” the Brazilian attacker told reporters. 

Trailing Sociedad 1-0 at half-time, Madrid found themselves 3-0 down before the hour-mark in the Spanish capital.

Marcelo reduced the deficit in the 59th minute but Mikel Merino restored Sociedad’s three-goal advantage 10 minutes later.

Late goals from Rodrygo Goes and Nacho gave Madrid some hope, however, it was not enough for the La Liga leaders at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“I would like to ask to the fans to keep this way up, we are going to fight until the end of the season in order to win La Liga and Champions League too,” Vinicius said.

“We were not in good shape, and Sociedad plays football really well, they’re well-placed in La Liga. It was a difficult match. The only Copa one played at home, and we lost.

“It is hard to lose at home. We were unbeaten at home and we got beaten on the single match we can’t afford to lose. But on the other hand, we keep fighting until the end, fighting to keep in good shape looking forward the end of this season.”

Zinedine Zidane’s side are currently three points clear of Barcelona atop La Liga and next travel to Osasuna on Sunday.

While defensively poor on Thursday, Zidane stressed team selection wasn’t to blame for the performance. 

“I put out a team that thought I could do well,” Zidane told reporters afterwards.

“I don’t think we were wrong with the team, but there is a rival who played very well and that has cost us. Here we are all together, when you win and when you lose.”