Barcelona react after losing out on target to Real Madrid | OneFootball

Barcelona may have already brought in Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United, but they missed out on summer signing number two to arch rivals Real Madrid. They had been confident of securing the services of Bernardo Silva when his Manchester City contract expired at the end of the month, but the Portuguese midfielder now looks set to move to the Bernabeu.

Silva is a player that Barcelona have had on their radar for several years, and this summer looked like being the perfect time to bring him to the Spotify Camp Nou, given that he could arrive for free. They held talks with his agent Jorge Mendes, but in the end, they will miss out on a pre-contract agreement for his services.

However, club officials are not overly upset about missing out on Silva, as per MD. At no point did the Catalans consider him to be a priority target – rather, he was seen as a market opportunity, but only under certain conditions, which was the terms they presented to his representatives during recent meetings.

Barcelona hadn’t planned to sign a midfielder

Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images

The truth is that midfield was never an area that Barcelona intended to address in the summer. They have one of the best groups in Europe, with Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Marc Bernal all at the disposal of Flick, who can also call upon Eric Garcia when required. They also have Marc Casado for the time being, although it is expected that he will be sold at some stage during the upcoming transfer window.

Now that the Silva pursuit is over, Barcelona will be back to fully focusing on their bid to sign a new striker. Julian Alvarez remains their leading target, although Atletico Madrid’s hard-line stance could mean they have to go after other options in the coming weeks.