The Real Madrid man has emerged as a key transfer target for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal this summer.

Vinicius Jr has taken an interesting step on social media as Arsenal apparently received a blow in their hopes of signing him this summer. The Real Madrid forward is a key target for the Gunners in the summer transfer window.

The Brazilian now appears to have deleted all of his pictures from his personal Instagram account. He has also left his profile picture blank.

The move comes as news broke of a meeting between Vinicius' camp and Real Madrid over a new deal. There had been somewhat of a standoff between the two parties, something which Arsenal were hoping to take advantage of.

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However, as reported by football.london, Real Madrid have now improved their contract offer to the 26-year-old. Whether that offer meets the expectations of Vinicius Jr and his camp remains to be seen.

While the forward has deleted the pictures from his account, all of the reels remain, with quite a few of them in partnership with different companies. The purpose of the move is not clear, and could be simply a clear-out of his social media accounts.

The move did not go unnoticed by fans on social media. "Vini jr instagram, he’s deleted everything. Hmmmm interesting," one said. A second added: "Vini Jr instagram page is completely cleared.... New start at Arsenal?"

"Vini Jr has WIPPED [sic] Real Madrid from his IG completely. He's playing with his fans all this just to re-sign," a third said. "Vini Jr. deleting his Instagram photos… Could this mean an announcement of a contract renewal or a departure from Real Madrid?" Said a fourth.

It’s a situation Arsenal will be keeping a close eye on, with Mikel Arteta looking to add attacking prowess to his squad ahead of the Premier League title defence.

The Gunners play their first league game of the new season in just over two weeks when they take on Coventry City at the Emirates Stadium.

Speaking about the possibility of signing Vinicius this summer, Arteta said: "Well, we are really active, trying to improve and evolve the team. That's clear.

"We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously, because we want to get better like anybody else. And you can just see it.

"The transfer market and our opponents, what we are doing, we won't sit still. And we are very ambitious in what we want to do."

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