Vinicius' time is now and Real Madrid need to let him shine

New manager Santiago Solari has had no such qualms. The young Brazilian has played in three of Solari’s four games in charge so far, though his only start came in the Copa del Rey.

Since that game, however, he’s come on as a substitute to score a crucial goal against Real Valladolid, breaking a 0-0 deadlock, and then grabbed an assist on his Champions League debut.

Perhaps because Solari was managing the player for Real Madrid Castilla before, he saw first-hand what Vinicius is capable of and so was ready to throw him into the deep end. So far, it’s worked.

The old adage of if a player’s good enough, they’re old enough has started to apply. Vinicius hadn’t even made his first-team debut for Flamengo when Real Madrid initially secured his signing in the summer of 2017, but since then, he’s shown he’s worthy of the hype.

Former Brazil captain Cafu has even compared the youngster to Cristiano Ronaldo – a player whose spectre has been hanging over the Santiago Bernabeu since his departure from Madrid this summer. How they’d love to have found a replacement.

The truth is, the players who were expected to step up in the former talisman’s absence haven’t done so. Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema started the season in fine form, but have since tapered off – and in Bale’s case, the familiar issue of his fitness has reared its head again.

Isco, too, has missed time, due to an appendicitis surgery, and even though he’s returned from that, he hasn’t started in any of Solari’s games. Fellow Spanish youngster Marco Asensio has also failed to live up to his potential.

So why not turn to Vinicius?

This Madrid side needed reinvigoration. Despite winning a third straight Champions League title in May, a historic achievement, it was clear that the squad weren’t playing up to their full potential last season under Zinedine Zidane, and that continued even after a change in management.

Solari, on the other hand, has provoked a response, and perhaps it all started when he brought Vinicius off the bench against Valladolid. It was an ugly, unimpressive win, and the goal Vinicius scored was nothing to write home about, but it got Los Blancos out of a rut.

Since then, they’ve soared, winning their next two games while looking like the Madrid of old. And Vinicius has provided that injection of fresh air that the squad so desperately needed, especially after a summer in which no attacking player was signed despite Ronaldo’s exit.

Now it’s time to give Vinicius an extended run, rather than continuing to restrict him to cameos. At the very least, it could provoke Bale and Asensio into upping their game, stung by being usurped by a newly-arrived teenager.

And of course, Vinicius himself has plenty to offer, with his pace, dribbling, and finishing ability, and if he’s given the chance he can even show off his prowess from free-kicks, as he’s done for the Castilla side.

Either way, the team as a whole will benefit from the youngster’s presence.

Madrid have a diamond in the rough on their hands in Vinicius. His time is now.