Vinicius Jr keen to justify Ballon d’Or favourite tag on and off the pitch by following idols

Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr wants to follow the lead of Lewis Hamilton and LeBron James in opening a school for disadvantaged kids.

The 24-year-old Brazilian – overwhelming favourite to lift this year’s Ballon d’Or in October – is already planning for his legacy after lifting the Champions League and La Liga title in two of the last three seasons.

Hailing from Sao Goncalo, a poor neighbourhood in his homeland, Vinicius Jr said: “I’m already helping lots of children in Brazil.

“I want to help many more and one of my biggest goals for next year is to have the first school carrying my name because I always looked up to my idols.

“I always talk about Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, (Lewis) Hamilton. One from each sport and one that I follow closely.

“In the last year LeBron James invited the people from my institute to go and visit his school and they said it’s a fantastic place where it is not only football, basketball and sports that are taught but first of all, education.

“I want to help many children in the future so Brazil can be a country with better education and a better quality of life.”

F1 superstar Hamilton has launched Mission 44, a charity created to help young people from under-represented backgrounds achieve their ambitions in wider society.

Speaking ahead of this week’s draw for the coming Champions League campaign, Vinicius Jr added: “To become a professional and for every 1million people only two or three become professional players.

“So the motto and the goal of my institute is always to give children the freedom and the ability to be doctors or teachers – something other than football.

“In Brazil we need more teachers, we need more lawyers, we need more doctors.”

In football, Vinicius Jr has ripped it up in Spain and Europe with numbers to underline his dominance.

Fifteen goals to help his side to win a second title in three seasons. Six goals in the Champions League – including the second in the Final three months ago to put the game beyond Borussia Dortmund.

The Saudis are understood to be ready with a $1bn deal after unsuccessfully bidding for Kylian Mbappe last year.

But with Mbappe now alongside him at Madrid, Vinicius wants to make history in Spain.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing for Real Madrid, so I cherish every moment like it was the last,” he said.

“Everyone wants to win for the best team on the planet. And to be able to play with the best and score so many goals in so many finals – to be able to help so much.

“I’ve already won two Champions Leagues and I play with others who have already won six – players like [Dani] Carvajal, [Luka] Modrić, Nacho and Toni [Kroos].