Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images
Barcelona’s dominance of Spanish football over the past two seasons has clearly rattled Real Madrid, and Florentino Perez is preparing to spend big to put an end to it.
The Blaugrana have won five of the last six domestic titles on offer, including back-to-back La Liga crowns, and Perez is now going all out to shift the balance of power.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the scale of Real Madrid’s spending this summer could even surpass the famous 2010 rebuild, when Perez last turned to Jose Mourinho to dethrone a great Barcelona side.
A summer of heavy spending
Jose Mourinho of Real Madrid
Mourinho has the full support of Perez. (Photo courtesy: Real Madrid official website)
Real Madrid have already been busy this window, signing Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva on free transfers, paying €60 million for Marc Cucurella and €20 million for Denzel Dumfries.
And they are not stopping there. Reports suggest the club are prepared to spend more than €100 million on RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, while a further nine-figure move for Manchester City’s Rodri is also being lined up.
Should both deals materialise, this summer’s outlay would comfortably eclipse even the €182.2 million Real Madrid spent in 2025 on the likes of Franco Mastantuono, Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, none of whom have yet nailed down a regular role.
History repeating itself
Jose Mourinho, Head Coach of Benfica
Can Mourinho help Real Madrid get back to the top? (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images)
The parallels with 2010 are striking.
Back then, Perez brought in Mourinho and surrounded him with the likes of Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Ricardo Carvalho for around €60 million, all in an effort to topple Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona.
Perez has again hired the same coach, paying €15 million to release Mourinho from Benfica, and is offering the Portuguese an even wider range of reinforcements than he had 16 years ago.
History, therefore, is clearly repeating itself and it will be interesting to see how soon Real Madrid try and get the Diomande and Rodri deals done.
Real Madrid News
Journalist refutes claim of Real Madrid completing €130 million Bundesliga attacker signing
Published
1 hour ago
on
July 26, 2026
Yan Diomande, Ivory Coast and RB Leipzig player
Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Given the speed at which Real Madrid have been operating to sign Yan Diomande, an agreement was always expected to be just around the corner.
Earlier today, in fact, word even broke out that the club had completed the transfer and reached an agreement with Leipzig over a fee close to the €130 million ballpark.
There is, however, no unanimity in the reports floating around as some top sources are now coming out to strongly deny the completion of the deal, refuting the claims from earlier today.
No agreement reached
As confirmed by Florian Plettenberg in a recent update, there is currently no agreement between RB Leipzig and Real Madrid or PSG for Yan Diomande.
Yan Diomande, Ivory Coast and RB Leipzig player
The deal may be completed next week. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
New talks will be held today with new bids also expected to be submitted, likely from both the Spanish and the French parties. Nothing is closed as matters stand.
The journalist also adds that there are no face-to-face contacts or conversations between the German club and Real Madrid despite the rumours doing the rounds. In fact, Leipzig do not even expect an agreement to be reached today.
Diomande is still on holiday and is yet to report back from his vacation. He has not yet spoken to the club about the entire saga and is expected to return early next week when the deal can be finalised.
PSG not giving up
As per the aforementioned update, PSG are refusing to give up in the race and continue to fight tooth and nail for the young winger.
Luis Enrique, PSG manager
PSG are still pushing for Diomande. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
After all, they were the first club to reach an agreement with the player over a transfer this summer until Real Madrid swooped in and stole him in broad daylight. They are fuming and remain strong contenders.
Liverpool and Manchester City are also lurking around the player and have been interested in him for a while now. Diomande, however, has not shown much interest in the Premier League offers.
Currently, Real Madrid and PSG remain the top contenders with Los Blancos having the edge in the two-horse race. A complete resolution, however, is unlikely until next week after the player returns from his vacation.