Barcelona and Real Madrid love swinging their d*cks in the transfer market. They have players on their knees for them on a yearly basis, even if they are already at massive clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal or Bayern Munich.
Here are six examples of the El Clasico pair showing their might to hijack a transfer or steal a world-class player from a big club. And Leeds.
Raphinha
Leeds United were resigned to losing Raphinha in the summer of 2022 after he carried them to Premier League safety. Without the Brazilian, they would have been relegated. Don’t believe me? Just look at what happened in 2022/23…
There was a lot of interest in Raphinha after his stellar 21/22 campaign. He agreed personal terms with Barcelona months before the transfer window opened, but the La Liga giants could not afford him. With Barcelona looking behind the sofa cushions for pennies to fund what would end up being an ambitious transfer window, Arsenal wasted no time lodging a bid. In classic Arsenal fashion, the first offer was instantly declined; Edu would improve the terms of their bid, but it still wasn’t enough.
As the Gunners dillied and dallied, Chelsea made an offer Andrea Radrizzani could not refuse in what was the first of many hijack attempts under Todd Boehly, whose scouting network appeared to be based on Twitter trends. A move from Leeds to Chelsea looked inevitable, but Raphinha’s agents were holding out for the player’s ‘dream move’ to Barcelona. And just like that, with everything in the Blues’ hands, the Blaugrana came forward with a similar bid, which was accepted. As they say, the rest is history. It’s a shame as well because Chelsea could have done with another winger. That would have rescued their season.
Radrizzani said he “felt ashamed” after Raphinha joined Barcelona as a deal with Chelsea was “done”. “For me, it was done, and when I have a deal my word is my word,” he told The Athletic last August. “I felt ashamed to go back to Todd Boehly and change my position… But unfortunately, let’s say Barcelona influences convinced the player to wait, to wait, to wait until they could find a solution.”
Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal signed a 16-year-old Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona in 2003. Three years later, he was starting a Champions League final against the club he first represented at youth level, two months after making his Spain debut. He was probably the greatest find of Arsene Wenger’s career. And one player with massive potential he actually managed to sign.
Although Fabregas would go on to become Arsenal captain at the age of 21 having established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League, a return to the Nou Camp felt inevitable; there was ongoing intense speculation about the midfielder’s future with Barcelona refusing to go away. They had bids rejected in what was a ridiculous transfer saga with an obvious ending.
Fabregas was always pretty respectful to Arsenal, but it was clear where his heart was pulling him. The relentless interest from the Catalan club proved to be too much for Arsenal, who let their captain and talisman depart for around £30million.
Arsenal fans have some antipathy towards Barcelona, and the Fabregas situation was really the birth of it all, even after they beat Wenger’s side in the 2006 Champions League final. He was literally Arsenal captain when Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique ambushed him during Spain’s 2010 World Cup celebrations, putting a Barca shirt over his head. What b*stards.
Jude Bellingham
This summer’s race for Jude Bellingham was expected to be hectic, unpredictable and tedious. It ended up being a fairly straightforward cruise for his signature after Liverpool dropped out of the race.
Like Erling Haaland’s move from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City in 2022, the deal was sorted early doors, meaning we would avoid a boring summer-long saga. Ex-Dortmund midfielder Bellingham is the latest Galactico to join Real Madrid after he had the choice between the reigning European champions and future European champions, Manchester City.
Unfortunately for City, they have no history, in comparison to Madrid, who are quite literally drowning in it. That was reportedly Bellingham’s thought process when choosing between the two clubs.
Karim Benzema
There are two examples of Karim Benzema telling the Premier League where they can stick their interest.
Benzema has been playing at the highest level since he was a teenager, ironically reaching his peak in his mid-thirties. After four amazing years leading the line for Lyon, Real Madrid got their hands on the young Frenchman for around £35m in what was a crazy 2009 summer transfer window which also saw the arrivals of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. There was lots of interest in Benzema. Manchester United were very keen, as were Barcelona and Inter, but it was always Madrid for him. He was born to be a Galactico and that is what he became.
Years later, Benzema was strongly linked with a move to Arsenal. There were faint hopes the Gunners would finally land a player they had been rumoured to be chasing for quite some time. This was until the striker publicly announced Real Madrid was his “home” and anyone who suggested otherwise were “clowns”. Brilliant.
For all those clowns who want to make believe things at my fans. Here this is my home ! #HalaMadridYNadaMas pic.twitter.com/og6tMZKoft
— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) August 24, 2015
Jules Kounde
Chelsea were chasing French defender Jules Kounde for bloody ages and looked close to doing so in the summer of 2021 and then again in 2022. Like Raphinha, he ended up snubbing a move to Stamford Bridge in favour of the Nou Camp.
After putting in over a year of legwork, Barca swooped in and signed Kounde as if it was nothing. The player himself actually said rookie manager Xavi convinced him to join after giving a better “speech” than then-Blues boss Thomas Tuchel. He said: “I spoke with Tuchel and I also felt that he wanted me to come but I simply preferred Xavi’s speech.”
There were murmurs of a 2023 summer exit for Kounde, who quickly shut down any talk of a move with Manchester United reportedly interested. Writing on Twitter, Kounde said: “To make it clear: at no time did I ask to leave, so I’m not going anywhere.” Chelsea will never get their man.
Cristiano Ronaldo
To be on your knees for a move elsewhere while winning trophies for fun at Manchester United shows just how massive Real Madrid are. This was the case with Cristiano Ronaldo, who swapped Old Trafford for the Santiago Bernabeu in 2009 after making it clear he viewed his time in the Premier League as done in a clear case of ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’.
Madrid landed Ronaldo for what was then a world-record £80m fee. This was the beginning of the transfer market we know and hate. Today, Ronaldo would be worth triple that fee.
The Portuguese superstar was clearly unhappy and was desperate to join the Spanish giants, who tried to land him a year earlier. Ronaldo threw more strops than usual, publicly criticised Sir Alex Ferguson, and allegedly agreed a ‘pre-contract’ with Madrid, despite his deal at Old Trafford not expiring until 2012.
These tactics to get out were obviously not taken well by the United fanbase, who will now see this as a very tame way of forcing a move out after the manner he tried to leave the club during his second stint…
Honourable mentions: Robert Lewandowski, Aurelien Tchouameni, Malcom, Samuel Umtiti, Ruben Neves, Alex Song, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry, Franck Kessie, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Philippe Coutinho, Frenkie de Jong, Martin Odegaard, James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Kaka.
