Jose Mourinho has admitted that Arsenal transfer target Vinicius Jr should have left Real Madrid in the summer as he would be "more respected" in a different country. The Brazil international was of firm interest to the Gunners but opted to sign a new contract in the Spanish capital.

Vinicius started the season in great form with four goal contributions in six games as Los Blancos won five of their first six league games.

Since the resume of domestic football following the international break - in which he scored once out of three matches for Brazil - has struggled over the last few weeks.

A straight red card against Villareal for pulling an opponents hair was followed up by an early substitution against AS Roma in the Champions League, with the attackers that came on inspiring Real's comeback.

Despite the brutal decision to bring him off just before the hour-mark - even though he is suspended for the next four La Liga matches - Mourinho has come out in support of Vinicius but first admitted that if he was dealing with what Vinicius has, he would have already left.

The Real boss said: "If I were in his shoes, I probably wouldn't be here. I would have forced a move to a country where he'd be respected, but out of loyalty to Real Madrid and love for the club, he stayed.

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"He believes things can improve, and he still has that smile. Nothing and no one can take it away from him. He's a fantastic guy, and it's easy to get along with him. I spend a few minutes alone with him every day. I value him immensely because he always manages to live and survive with a smile."

North London was the only alternative destination for Vinicius with Mikel Arteta desperate for him to raise the ceiling of Arsenal's attack.

His desire to do exactly that was made clear during a press conference after the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. Nearly two weeks earlier, Arsenal were confirmed as Premier League champions after three successive second-place finishes.

Arsenal signed Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and Christos Tzolis for roughly £150million this past summer while Piero Hincapie completed a permanent move after his initial loan and Illan Meslier joined as a free agent.

In addition to their failed pursuit of Vinicius, Arsenal could not convince Julian Alvarez to make the move from Atletico Madrid. The Gunners have still managed a strong start to the campaign with the 3-0 defeat to Brighton as the only blemish on their record.

Injuries have also impacted Arteta in the opening few months but Martin Zubimendi and Hincapie are already on the way back with William Saliba also progressing well.