Real Madrid fans read all the transfer rumors and thought that the Galactico Florentino Perez was promising to go hard after would be one of PSG superstar midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves, galvanized by Jose Mourinho reviving the relationship with their super agent Jorge Mendes, or Bayern Munich's Ballon d'Or contending right winger Michael Olise.
Instead, Real Madrid did not even pretend to make an offer for any of those three true superstars. The Galactico and the player Real decided to make their bid for was Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez. Their approach was met with immediate laughter and derision, with Atleti rejecting their 150 million euro transfer bid in a mockery of the Merengues.
While some Madridistas are caught up in the theater of Atletico Madrid, the bitter crosstown rivals, treating Real Madrid with the same level of derision that they did Barcelona for what was a perfectly reasonable transfer offer, the rest are seeing through what Florentino Perez had promised them.
Julian Alvarez was never coming
Because notably, Florentino never promised that Real Madrid would actually sign the Galactico in question. And he kept things perfectly vague on who that player would be to keep a level of plausible deniability. Nobody saw Julian Alvarez coming as a bid, and, well, nobody ever thought that Atletico Madrid would sell their best player to their biggest rival.
Just as Enrique Riquelme politicked in the presidential campaign by waving around the Erling Haaland jersey or making vague remarks about Jurgen Klopp being his manager, Florentino, politicked, too. He told the truth about Jose Mourinho and signed both Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries, but what he did with the Galactico 150 million euro bid, telling everyone he was going for the next Zinedine Zidane or Cristiano Ronaldo, seems like it was nothing more than a ploy on its own, too.
Because Alvarez, good as he is, is nowhere near a Galactico. Nobody would put him on even half the level of Zinedine Zidane or Cristiano Ronaldo, and Florentino Perez insulted these two legends and the intelligence of all the fans by pretending that Alvarez could ever be that guy.
But it was never about signing a Galactico, it was never about Alvarez, and it was never even about the fans or Real Madrid. Perez may have been better than the alternative, but there is a reason why he is losing support around the club itself; it's for posturing like this.
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