Real Madrid and Barcelona are the fiercest rivals in world football, and they’ve had plenty of high-profile transfer battles over the years, such as for Neymar and Vinícius Júnior in recent seasons.
Now, Barcelona could be interested in trying to pry away one of Real’s dream transfer targets for the summer 2024 window – a player Juni Calafat has been keen on bringing in as an ideal starter and system fit.
Real Madrid desperately need a world-class left back, which they have not had since Marcelo’s decline.
Ferland Mendy looked good at first, but his attacking deficiencies quickly became a big issue. More recently, Real brought back Fran García, who has struggled mightily.
Thus, Real Madrid have been flirting hard with Alphonso Davies’ agent, in the hopes they can convince the top-class Canadian to venture away from a suddenly dysfunctional Bayern Munich to the greener pastures of the Santiago Bernabéu.
However, Gerard Romero is reporting that after Davies’ agent was in Madrid, he actually went to Barcelona to visit the Blaugrana’s new sporting director Deco.
Barcelona are showing a new sense of ambition with Deco, who is making everyone but the very core of elite young players untouchable. That means he can free up space to sign true difference-makers.
The thing is, Barça already have one of the best left backs in the world, and he’s even younger than Davies. Alejandro Baldé should have that position locked down for the foreseeable future.
Davies used to play as an attacking player, though, so Barça could be interested in doing something different with the Bayern man at the expense of Real Madrid. They love nothing more than to frustrate their rivals.
Yet Barça have to be cautious with their spending. Should they pay huge wages to Davies when a starting left back isn’t a need? Is he anywhere close to a top left wing option like Kvhicha Kvaratskhelia?
Probably not, so Barcelona’s interest may purely be to drive up the price and frustrate Real. From Deco’s perspective, that’s still a worthwhile endeavor.
Former editor of The Real Champs and Old Juve, covering Real Madrid and Juventus
