Vinicius Junior's place at Real Madrid under scrutiny

Real Madrid dressing room believed, by all accounts, that Vinicius Junior's move to Arsenal was all but done last summer. Cadena SER reports several team-mates expected the Brazilian to leave for north London before the club and player instead agreed a new contract, running to 2032.

The winger has scored 72 goals for Real Madrid since joining in 2018. This season the numbers have dried up, and Mundo Deportivo reports growing unease inside the club: nobody at the top can pin down why his form has fallen away so sharply, just months after the extension was signed.

The bench has kept faith with him regardless, starting Vinicius in every match so far. That backing has not produced a response on the pitch, and the Bernabeu crowd has turned, whistling him during games. Even some of his long-standing defenders inside the club are now said to be asking whether he should make way.

Rodrygo is understood to be ready to step into the starting role. Ancelotti is expected to weigh up Vinicius's place in the side during the international break, with La Liga resuming on 10 October away to Villarreal.

Both Yahoo Sports and Mundo Deportivo describe Vinicius as retaining the trust of the dressing room even amid the uncertainty of last summer, and the reports say the episode has not damaged those relationships.

If Ancelotti does bench Vinicius for the Villarreal fixture, it would mark the clearest sign yet that the club's patience, so evident over the summer renewal, has limits.