Jose Mourinho believes Vinicius Jr should have left Real Madrid in the summer, but has praised his commitment to the club.Arsenal were heavily linked with a move for the Brazilian international following their Premier League title win last season.Vinicius committed his future to Madrid until 2032, but could have moved to the Premier League as Arsenal eyed a moveGettytalkSPORT reported in July that they contemplated a transfer, which would have been one of the most audacious deals in football history.Vinicius ended speculation over his future by signing a new deal with Madrid that runs until 2032.However, his head coach Mourinho feels as though the 26-year-old winger may have benefited from leaving the Bernabeu.“If I were (Vinicius), in his place, I probably wouldn’t be here,” he told the media ahead of Madrid’s LaLiga clash against Sevilla, via ESPN.“Last summer I would have forced my exit to a league, to a country, to clubs and stadiums where they’d respect him.“But because he’s a Madrid fan, he has love for the club and the city, he believes things can always improve, he renewed, and he’ll keep that smile. “I think there’s nothing or no-one that can take that away, that joy for living and working. He’s a great boy.”When clarifying what he said, Mourinho added: “When he signed that contract, he signed it because Madrid is his home, and Real Madrid is his home. He’s one of the main sources of joy in that dressing room. “What I said before was that I doubt I’d be able – as a player with lots of options – I doubt whether I’d be able to have his psychological strength, to hold on.”According to Forbes, Vinicius is the world’s fifth-highest paid player in 2026 with a $76million (£57m) income.Mourinho put himself in Vinicius’ shoes and surprisingly claimed he should have left the clubGettyHow has Vinicius played this season?Since signing his new deal at Madrid, Vinicius has made a slow start to the 2026/27 season with one goal and three assists in ten matches.He has not found the back of the net since their 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad on August 26.Vinicius has played in all eight of their LaLiga matches in the current campaign, but is out for the next four matches.During a 1-0 win against Villarreal last weekend, he was shown a red card for pulling the hair of Nathan Saliba.Vinicius was given a two-match ban for the hair pull and the same sanction for his ‘aggressive’ reaction, making it a four-match ban.He will miss the match with Sevilla on Sunday night and El Clasico against rivals Barcelona, as well as the fixtures with Racing Santander and Valencia.