Vinicius: "Barca were interested, but I wanted to play for Real Madrid"

Madrid, March 20 (Xinhua) -- real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr is currently sidelined with an ankle injury which could keep him out for the rest of the season, but there is no doubt that he has been the best news of an otherwise disappointing campaign for the club.

The 18-year-old spoke on Spanish radio station Cadena Ser late on Tuesday night about his injury and his first season at the club.

"I hope to be back before the end of the season and I will have new tests on Wednesday to see how things are going," he explained.

Vinicius explained that "when I was 16 years old, big clubs started to look at me; first Barcelona and then real Madrid: I thought about which was the best option but decided on real Madrid because they show confidence in their young players."

"Barca were going to pay me more, but I was more convinced by what real Madrid could offer me... I never thought about playing next to Messi, we all wanted to go to Madrid," he commented.

Although real Madrid's first coach of the season, Julen Lopetegui was reluctant to play Vinicius in the first team, the winger commented he had "helped a lot in pre-season."

Meanwhile he explained that Santiago Solari "gave me the chance to play and I am very grateful to him...He gave me an opportunity."

Although Vinicius has yet to play with Zinedine Zidane at the real Madrid, he admitted that the man who returned to the club to replace Solari was "special."

Finally, the winger admitted that Madrid would look to "win everything" next season and set himself a target of winning the prestigious Balon d'Or award.

"I see myself winning it and I am working to do that. I think I can win it when I am 25 or 26 if things go well and I am still playing at real Madrid with the best players," he said.