Did Real Madrid shift focus to avoid embarrassment?

The exchange between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid over Real’s €150 million bid on Julián Alvarez was cringey on both ends.

Real Madrid using an official communication and X post to declare that it was submitting a bid for Alvarez and Atléti’s childish response made for great middle school drama, but was a bad look for everyone involved.

So, why would Real Madrid take such a volatile route to make an offer for Alvarez, knowing it had potential to blow up? Well, re-elected president Florentino Pérez needed to engage in some grandstanding to make good on his promise of making a €150 million offer. However, transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano thinks Real Madrid made the decision because its true, top target might have resulted in an even more embarrassing rejection.

“I can absolutely guarantee that the intention of Florentino Pérez was to try for Michael Olise. It was also confirmed by people at Real Madrid. But Bayern completely closed the door in private and in public and didn’t want to enter any sort of negotiations. Then Real Madrid started assessing other options and decided to go for Julian Alvarez,” Romano said on his YouTube channel (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).

Bayern Munich knows about the power of rejection after the Anthony Gordon and Florian Wirtz ordeals of the past year, but it is tough to think that Real Madrid’s tactics were going to go over well — or even work.

Regardless of all of that, watching two global brands have that kind of lame exchange on social media should be a wakeup call that this course of action was truly not the way to operate.

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

Sign up for a user account and get:

• New, improved notifications system!
• Fewer ads
• Create community posts
• Comment on articles, community posts
• Rec comments, community posts