Real Madrid continues to try and sabotage FC Barcelona’s ambitions

After winning re-election a fortnight ago, Madrid president Florentino Perez has been busy with his checkbook.

Reacting to two trophyless seasons while FC Barcelona mopped up five out of the six Spanish trophies on offer, Perez has decided to torpedo the Catalans’ attempts to strengthen Hansi Flick’s squad.

The first move we saw in that respect was making a rejected $175 million bid for Julian Alvarez - Barça’s top target this summer.

Reports from Argentina explained that Alvarez - currently at the World Cup - had agreed a five-year deal with the La Liga champions.

With Real Madrid upping the ante, however, Barça won’t be able to match that kind of figure after lodging their own $116 million offer.

Next was Marc Cucurella. The left back is a La Masia-reared Spain international that made his bones in England at Brighton and Chelsea following short spells on domestic soil with Eibar and Getafe.

There had been rumours that Cucurella could come home soon, and he flirted with that possibility when asked about it in recent months.

At the weekend, though, Madrid came out of nowhere by purchasing ‘Cucu’ from Chelsea for $58 million. Furthermore, it is also believed to be close to landing another past target for Barça in Bernardo Silva, who becomes a free agent on June 30 when his Manchester City contract expires.

As for Bastoni, he was Barça’s top aim alongside Alvarez until interest in him cooled off. The way things are going, though, don’t be surprised to see the highly-rated 27-year-old become a Real Madrid player in the near future.