Barcelona are about to see a big opportunity to improve their squad on the cheap disappear. Hansi Flick has already set about improving his back-to-back title-winning squad this summer, pulling off the early signing of Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United.
But with Gordon in the bag, Barca are now concentrating all their efforts on landing a centre-forward to replace Robert Lewandowski. With few truly elite strikers walking the face of the earth, the Blaugrana know they have a task on their hands to identify and sign the right one.
It's for that reason the Bernardo Silva deal was put on hold, but that may now have cost Barca.
Silva heads to Real Madrid
With Barcelona having taken a relaxed approach to the Silva deal, concentrating fully on the striker search, Real Madrid have now stepped in to snap him up.
Fabrizio Romano has posted on X: "Bernardo Silva to Real Madrid, HERE WE GO! Agreement in place and contract approved. Two year deal plus one year option, fast deal by Madrid started 36h ago and closed immediately. Mourinho wanted Bernardo, he says yes and advanced talks revealed today are 100% confirmed."
It's something Barca knew might happen, and they were okay with the possibility. Flick is largely happy with his midfield, and the addition of Silva, while free in terms of transfer fee, would have been a costly operation in terms of wages.
Flick was open to the option, according to Catalan reports, but it would have been one he and the club circled back to, and they were fully aware that Silva could end up at Real Madrid with his fellow countryman José Mourinho.
It is a little surprising that the deal has happened so early, and indeed so close to the World Cup, given Silva is there with Portugal. But with Portugal not in action until Wednesday, it's likely business communications wouldn't have been shut off until the weekend or close to it.
That has given Los Blancos just enough time to do the deal and take advantage of Barca's hesitancy, with the Blaugrana appearing to have an advantage in convincing the serial Premier League champion had they have progressed with talks.
As for Real Madrid, Silva is the first Mourinho signing, and it will be interesting to see how bold they are in the market as they look to catch Barca. As we have seen, big promises have been made, but it's rarely clear what is talk and what is action in a summer of a Real Madrid presidential election.
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