Real Madrid overtake Barcelona in the race to sign Argentine whizkid | OneFootball

Despite all the buzz surrounding the potential acquisition of Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid have not lost sight of other targets in the market.

One of the club’s main focus areas, after all, is to continue finding hidden gems in South America, as they have done with the signings of Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, Federico Valverde and now Endrick.

To that end, Franco Mastantuono is one of Real Madrid’s top targets in South America. The club’s pursuit of the River Plate starlet, though, was always a bit complicated due to the involvement of other parties, including arch-rivals Barcelona.

Real Madrid overtake Barcelona in Mastantuono chase

However, according to a recent report from Diario SPORT, it appears Real Madrid have overtaken Barcelona in the race to sign Franco Mastantuono.

This comes on the back of two meetings held between the two parties, the first of which was done by Real Madrid’s chief scout Juni Calafat.

Ready for the Real Madrid move? (Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)

Calafat maximised his last trip to Argentina by seeing Mastantuono in action and negotiating with his entourage.

Real Madrid are yet to come up with an official bid just yet. But the Spanish giants, through General Director Jose Angel Sanchez, have established the foundations for a negotiation process that may ultimately lead to Mastantuono’s move to Santiago Bernabeu.

What about competition from others?

While Real Madrid appear to have already trumped Barcelona in the race to sign Mastantuono, there were multiple other European giants interested in the player’s services.

But Man City, for one, are fresh from signing another River Plate jewel in Claudio Echeverri whereas Chelsea have only made initial explorations.

This leaves Real Madrid in the front seat. Barcelona looked like the only proper competition, but the Catalans’ financial hardship make it almost impossible for them to approach the player before June.