'Vinicius smiling again but his future has never been more uncertain'

Vinicius Junior is smiling again.

Five goals, four assists, and there is a feeling that football has returned to his body this season - fluid, joyful - after a mixed campaign last time round.

In Saturday's 3-1 win against Villarreal, the Vinicius who makes Real Madrid tick danced once more.

He came away with two goals, and was also the team's leader in dribbles (six), chances created (six), total shots (five), and passes in the final third (46).

A year after his own second-place Ballon d'Or finish, it also seems Vinicius has accepted that Kylian Mbappe's leadership of the attack is beyond question, as the duo continue to combine in devastating fashion to help Real to the top of La Liga.

Against Villarreal, when Vini went to ground, he looked up at Mbappe. "You or me?" he asked the designated penalty taker.

The Frenchman handed him the role, a sign of affection that continued after the match on social media. "Always on your boat," wrote Mbappe. Vinicius replied: "We sail together, brother."

But behind the scenes, the 25-year-old Brazilian's Real Madrid future has never been more uncertain as talks to extend his contract beyond 2027 continue to stall.

He left Flamengo to join Real in 2018 and has won three La Liga titles and the Champions League twice, but how long his smile continues to grace the Bernabeu remains to be seen.

Xabi Alonso, his new coach in Madrid, said: "I like to see him smile - it's very important."

It was a revealing comment. Whether Vinicius smiles or not has become a national debate.

When he smiles, some hail him as a symbol of hope; others accuse him of arrogance. When he protests, he's called disrespectful.

If he stays quiet, people say he's unhappy with his contract. If he cries, they tell him to behave.

A dance, a celebration, a complaint - each becomes a referendum on his character.

His current form, his best start to a season since moving to Madrid, has silenced critics for now.

But they're always nearby - behind a microphone, at a keyboard, or in the stands - ready to pounce after a mistake. Spain, or at least part of it, celebrates his goals but polices his behaviour.

On top of it, the future for Vinicius at Real Madrid feels less certain than ever.

After the Club World Cup, renewal talks between the player and the club were almost complete.

Vinicius had even lowered his salary demands, eager to extend until 2030. Both sides were close. Then everything froze.

It coincided with the arrival of Xabi Alonso, but it has more to do with the player and his advisers holding fire until they understand his role in the team - now that Mbappe is the boss - and considering that Xabi has promised Rodrygo to play him on the left, a battle Vini Jr has won for now.

Inside Valdebebas, the club's training HQ, few doubt his quality. But Alonso's reshaping of Madrid - his rotations, his emphasis on tactical structure - has made Vinicius one of several options on the left, no longer the guaranteed starter he was under Carlo Ancelotti. Vinicius wants to see how that develops.

The club feels a decision must be made by the summer, including the possibility of parting ways if the player does not sign a new deal.

Each week that passes without clarity feeds the sense that a player who has won every major title, who was named The Best, and who remains among the elite, is somehow still fighting for acceptance.

The hostility towards Vinicius is real - and it has names, dates, and court sentences.

He has been insulted in stadiums across Spain. He has testified in trials after a black mannequin wearing his shirt was hung from a bridge.

He has seen fans being sanctioned with suspended sentences for racist abuse in Valencia and Mallorca, largely thanks to LaLiga's efforts to ensure those actions do not remain unpunished within a judicial culture that long treated football's "industrial" language and "banter" with indulgence.

And yet, each time he reacts - pointing to the stands, asking referees to act, refusing to pretend it didn't happen - the same voices reappear: "Yes, they insult him, but he should behave better."

It's as if his protest and his provocation didn't come from the same place. His gestures, his anger, his resistance all emerge from living in a context that demands he smile while being insulted.

To be a black footballer is to play under constant scrutiny in Spain. Every movement becomes evidence in a cultural trial. Every expression is judged through a gaze that demands docility.

Spanish football insists it isn't racist, and maybe that's part of the problem. The bias isn't shouted; it's whispered through commentary, coded in tone.

That's Vinicius' existence: being himself while constantly measured by someone else's comfort.

This fight happens every weekend, in stadiums and studios alike. His dance is joy, but also defiance. His anger is not petulance - it's protection.

Spain's moral code still confuses composure with virtue. It rewards the player who remains calm, who never challenges the crowd, who fits the image of the polite star. But that code was built in a football world that no longer exists.

Today's players are not silent idols. They are global citizens, performers, brands, and sometimes activists. Visibility is a tool. Vinicius understands that his presence and his defiance carry meaning.

Yet, instead of recognising that courage, much of the public reads it as provocation. He isn't misunderstood because he behaves badly; he's misunderstood because his existence unsettles old certainties about who gets to define respect.

He also represents something else - the transformation of the footballer into a public narrative. The modern player doesn't just play; he builds identity through social media, sponsorships, personal branding.

Lamine Yamal's birthday celebration - luxury, lights, spectacle - is a sign of that new world. His display can be read as authenticity, an embrace of modern fame.

Vinicius, however, is treated differently. He is loud, but his noise has purpose.

He stands at the crossroads of football, race, and modern celebrity - a figure both sociological and sporting.

He's not just a winger; he's a symbol of a new generation of athletes who refuse to shrink themselves to fit into someone else's comfort.

Vinicius Junior doesn't need to change for Spain to understand him. Spain needs to change to understand itself.