What’s the story?
Barcelona are set to miss out on four World Class superstars as they prefer a move to the Blaugrana’s arch-rivals Real Madrid. According to Spanish outlet Diario Gol, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti, Juventus duo Paulo Dybala and Leonardo Bonucci coupled with teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe all prefer moves to the Santiago Bernabeu over Camp Nou.
The report adds that all of the four superstars are attracted by the project that club president Florentino Perez and manager Zinedine Zidane have in place at the Santiago Bernabeu. On the contrary, the only lure of a move to Barcelona is the prospect of playing alongside Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar as the players are not convinced by the project in place at Camp Nou, as they feel it lacks vision or purpose to build a team which will dominate Europe for years to come.
In case you didn’t know…
Barcelona have had a dismal season by their standards having been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the quarter-final by Juventus. They are also in the hunt for the La Liga title but barely, given that they are level on points with Real Madrid, albeit having played a game more.
A squad overhaul for the Catalan giants is due in the summer and they have been linked with some of the biggest names in football.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, have reached the final of the Champions League for the second successive season, having won it last year. Zinedine Zidane’s side are also in pole position to win the league title this season. While Madrid have been on the rise under Zinedine Zidane, Barcelona have steadily declined under Luis Enrique and hence the choice of the 4 superstars is justified.
The heart of the matter
Los Blancos continuously aim to improve their squad, including their first-team and it comes as no surprise that the Santiago Bernabeu outfit are after some of the biggest names in the business.
With Luka Modric slowly but surely aging and Karim Benzema not enjoying his best ever season, it is possible that the Spanish giants are targeting Dybala, Mbappe and Verratti as replacements or as supplements. On top of that, Pepe – at 34 years of age – is not getting younger and thus Madrid want to replace him with Leonardo Bonucci – arguably one of the best defenders in the world currently.
However, the combined cost of the 4 superstars will be in excess of £200 million.
What’s next?
We will have to wait and watch when these transfers materialize, if at all they do. However, the signs do not look promising for Barcelona, given that Europe’s most sought after footballers are not interested in a move to Camp Nou given the state of the club. The Barcelona hierarchy should look and act upon these warning signs before they have done enough damage to leave the club, untenable.
Author's Take
It is definitely an attractive and terrifying (for most of Europe) proposition to think that Verratti, Dybala, Bonucci and Mbappe will join an already star-studded Real Madrid team, who are unbeatable at times.
However, the rumour comes from Diario Gol – a Spanish website with not the best reputation, to put it plainly, and as such should be taken with a pinch of salt.
