While there has been no official confirmation that this was the reason, it appears that Vinicius Junior, who finished second in the Ballon d'Or poll behind Rodri Hernandez, was behind Real Madrid's absence. Vinicius posted after the winner was announced that he would go for it “10x over” in the aftermath, and seemed generally angry about the verdict.
He assured after the Best award, which he did win, that he was now the best player in the world. While the Ballon d'Or may have damaged his ego, there are a million other reasons why Vinicius could be frustrated by the verdict.
Diario AS indicates that Vinicius will increase from €15 million per year to €20 million per year in the last two years of his contract (which runs until 2027), a significant increase of 33% and a difference of €10 million in total . The Best award came with bonuses in his contract, and it is believed that the Ballon d'Or award would have come with the same, or perhaps even more bonuses.
Obviously this is all related to your earnings, but most would be upset at the prospect of losing €10 million outside of the general hope he had of winning the prize. Los Blancos are set to offer him a new contract next summer amid interest from Saudi Arabia as he enters the final stages of his contract. It should be noted that some media outlets dispute Vinicius' current base salary, saying it is closer to €10 million per year.
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