No plan at number six! Florentino Perez's dangerous game reveals a fatal misjudgement at Real Madrid

A little over two months ago, as the intense battle for the Real Madrid presidency got under way, Florentino Perez, the incumbent at the time and ultimately returned to office, made a point of publicly revealing that a very big offer would soon be submitted for a "player of the calibre of Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka".

Yet neither the much-discussed Michael Olise arrived from Bayern Munich, nor did the officially confirmed offer for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez come to anything. The sum of "at least €150 million" promised by Perez has still not been spent by Los Blancos, who instead signed Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig, for a base fee of €125 million.

The pattern is obvious: Olise, Alvarez, Diomande, all attack-minded players. What Real have needed more urgently than anything for the past two years, since the end of the midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro, is a holding midfielder of international class. They could still fill that glaring gap before the transfer window shuts. Even so, sinking another huge fee into a forward in Diomande only underlines Real's skewed priorities in the market.

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Rodri rejection a bitter setback for Real Madrid

Rodri had already seemed lined up. The Madrid-born midfielder had already said in the spring that, despite his past at Atletico Madrid, he could imagine playing for Los Blancos. "The fact I played for Atletico does not stop me from playing for Real. There are other players who have taken that path," he said.

Now, though, everything points to the holding midfielder and best player at the World Cup moving from Manchester City to Barcelona. Rodri turned down Real's offer, as his agent Pablo Barquero has now made clear.

For Real, it is a bitter setback. They were all but convinced Rodri could be the difference in making last season without a title a thing of the past as Jose Mourinho begins his new era. Instead, their hated arch-rivals from Catalonia have swooped.

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Rodri's expected transfer to Barcelona a real coup

For now, then, Real are empty-handed. Once again, they have nobody to organise the play behind the attacking line of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and now Diomande. Once again, as things stand, they are heading into the season with Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde in that role, even though the past has clearly shown that neither has that ability.

Barcelona, by contrast, look set to pull off a real coup with Rodri, and not just because of the eternal feud with Real. Hansi Flick's side, who have most recently humiliated Real twice in a row in the league, are finally getting an urgently needed top replacement for the again long-injured Frenkie de Jong. Rodri is also joining a team packed with Spanish players, the same group with whom the 30-year-old most recently became world champion.

That only adds another layer to the duel between Real and Barca. The conflict has built up over decades and now spans dozens of flashpoints, but the clashes of recent years recall the high points of the 2000s surrounding Figo's controversial move from Barcelona to Madrid.

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New episode in the eternal feud between Real Madrid and Barcelona

Then there is the Negreira scandal saga, still smouldering now, which has shaken confidence in Primera Division referees since it emerged at the start of 2023 and in which Real joined the criminal proceedings against Barcelona as a private prosecutor. Since then, every controversial refereeing call in the Clasico between the two clubs has been examined through the lens of the Negreira case.

One mud-slinging battle followed another. After Real entered the proceedings, Barca president Joan Laporta hit back and described the Madrid side as the "club of the regime", one that had historically been favoured by referees and still is today.

That fallout wrecked institutional relations. Perez and Laporta, for example, worked closely together behind the scenes on planning the Super League. The collapse of that alliance also ended the traditional joint presidents' lunch before Clasicos. Real also refused on several occasions to grant the customary place of honour in the VIP box.

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How will Real Madrid react to Rodri's rejection?

Then came the Alvarez affair: after Perez's announcement of a record transfer, Real confirmed in a press release that they had offered Atletico €150 million for the Argentine, but that the bid was rejected by their city rivals. Barca, who had long been considered seriously interested in Alvarez, were left looking foolish. By making the offer public, Real presumably pushed up the price for the 26-year-old on purpose. Alvarez is currently still under contract at Atletico.

Then there was the row over the awarding of the 2024 Ballon d'Or, which is taking on a completely new tone these days. At the time, Real boycotted the gala for the award in protest at Rodri's victory over Vinicius Junior.

Now Rodri, of all people, Real's red rag from two years ago, is on his way to Catalonia. For Madrid, that lands like a slap in the face. The poisonous intensity of this rivalry now has almost no limit. There will be another chapter. How Real respond on the pitch to Rodri's rejection is far less certain.