Despite constant speculation on where he stands with Vinícius Júnior, Kylian Mbappé revealed the two players have a “very good relationship” and one common goal: to bring silverware back to Real Madrid.
Ever since Mbappé made the move to the Spanish capital and became the face of Real Madrid, rumors mounted about a potential rift with Vinícius Júnior. The Brazilian suddenly found himself second-fiddle to a French superstar for the second time in his young career in a white shirt.
It did not help matters that the two players struggled to develop chemistry on the pitch. Last season, Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior both scored in just four of the 26 La Liga matches they played together.
The forwards have seemingly put the lows of the 2024–25 season behind them, though. Mbappé shut down any reports of conflict between himself and Vinícius Júnior in an interview with Movistar Plus+ during the October international window.
“I have a very good relationship with Vinícius. Much better this year, we got to know each other much more. He’s a great player and, as a person, a very good one,” Mbappé said.
“Two famous players on the same team sell a lot of papers... We know people talk about us all the time,” the 26-year-old continued. “I normalize it because the day there’s a real problem, hopefully it never happens, I’ll say it’s serious. And people will listen and understand that I mean it.
“This isn’t serious. In the life of a famous footballer, or a Real Madrid player, this isn’t serious,” Mbappé finished.
Mbappé: Real Madrid Focused on Winning Titles Under Xabi Alonso
Instead of listening to the outside noise, Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior are choosing to focus on getting Real Madrid back to championship-winning glory after the Spanish giants failed to win a major trophy last season.
“We know people talk about us for everything, but we share the same goal to help Real Madrid win titles. If we want to win, we need to be at our best and help the whole team,” Mbappé said.
So far, the two stars have delivered dominant performances in both La Liga and the Champions League. Mbappé leads the team with 14 goals across all competitions, while Vinícius Júnior has seven goal contributions to his name.
Plus, they have already scored in the same league match three times this season, nearly matching their total from all of 2024–25. Much in part due to Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior’s prowess, Real Madrid went into the October international break atop the La Liga standings.
READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘It’s Serious’—Kylian Mbappe Breaks Silence on Vinicius Junior Rift Rumors .