Barca vs PSG, the long story of a never-ending cold war

Some rivalries between clubs in different cities are historical, lifelong. Benfica and Porto, Ajax and PSV or Dortmund and Schalke 04 serve as clear examples. There are others, however, that are born from a specific moment. The signing of Pedraj Mijatovic by Real Madrid sealed an irreparable divorce between Valencia and Los Blancos. Before, the tragedy of Heysel had caused the fans of Liverpool and Juventus to hate each other. And further back in time, in 1920, Brazil and Argentina had one of the greatest confrontations in football because of a racist article in a Buenos Aires newspaper in the pre-match period.

All the cases cited share a common denominator: the rivalry between fans. This is why the cold war that Barça and PSG maintain belongs in another category. It is an undetectable tension in the streets but more alive than ever in the offices. Josep Maria Bartomeu and Nasser Al-Khelaifi have been holding the swords aloft for several years, without a single conciliatory gesture. Quite the opposite, because De Jong and Ndombélé are poised to be the next battlefields between the Catalans and the French.

The party started with Thiago Silva. In search of a centre-back, the Brazilian became the main target for the then Barca sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta. Barça tried to convince the defender in every possible way, but this always ended with the same answer: first there must be an agreement with the club. Mission Impossible.

David Luiz was the next issue to rise. Barca were interested in him when the Brazilian still played in Chelsea, but finally it was PSG who nabbed him. Perhaps it worked out fine for Barca because their reports did not recommend the signing of a player too crazy - footballistically speaking-  to play in their defence.

From Brazilian to Brazilian, Marquinhos burst onto Barça’s agenda. It was an intelligent move by Barça. Aware that the young centre-back was a substitute at PSG, the Catalan club pushed and Marquinhos wanted to move. The outcome of the plot, however, was not as expected: the French club improved the player's contract, who became an important player for the club.

The insistence of Barça on signing PSG players reduced the sympathy of the French club’s chief Al-Khelaifi to calls from Barcelona. If with Thiago Silva the culés always were open and honest, the strategy with Marquinhos had been different. Barca worked in the shadows to have more force in a negotiation that never would take place. The pressure of Barça, yes, forced the sheik to dig into his pocket. And that bothered the billionaire Qatari a lot.

But the Barça-PSG conflict was brutally marked by the Marco Verratti attempt. The Italian drew up a masterful plan to renew his deal and it worked. After leaving breadcrumbs all summer, the midfielder ended up renewing and picking up a decent salary improvement. As happened with Marquinhos, Barça's interest affected Al-Khelaifi, who interpreted the onslaught as a declaration of war. And his big weapon was just around the corner ...

Fed up with Barça, the catarí plotted his revenge on a slow fire. Contrary to what romantic sorts believe, Al-Khelaifi was convinced that his money could buy everything. Including the signature of Neymar, as complicated as it seemed. In a matter of days, without anyone expecting it, the Brazilian consummated his betrayal and PSG struck their great blow: separating Barça from Messi's successor. The Parisian club’s social networks even scoffed at Barcelona by mocking the famous ‘he stays' line by Gerard Piqué. With the war already unleashed, Barca called on UEFA to intensify the FFP controls on PSG.

At that time, UEFA looked the other way, although the recent revelations of 'Football Leaks' could now lead to the expulsion of PSG from the Champions League due to overvaluations of sponsorship contracts in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, a move that could even facilitate the arrival of Neymar and Mbappé.

As Napoleon said, Bartomeu thought: "I will have lost a battle, but not the war." To tell the truth, Barça's interest in Adrien Rabiot started prior to the signing of Neymar by PSG.The Catalan team has worked hard to convince the Frenchman not to renew his contract. It ends on June 30 and the great hope of the Catalans is that Adrien has resisted each and every one of the attempts fromPSG to reach end of the 'soap opera'. In little more than a month the midfielder will be free to negotiate his future at zero cost, and patiently Barca hope that that moment will arrive. Barca will save a high transfer fee but, on the other hand, will have to face paying a signing bonus that will go directly to Rabiot's pocket. If he ends up at the Camp Nou, the midfielder will become the first player Bartomeu manages to tear away from PSG.

Desperate, Al Khelaifi is willing to ‘give’ the midfielder in this winter window to any team other than Barça ... for only 10 million euros!

Without respite in the dispute, Al-Khelaifi returned to battle this summer. The Sheikh spread his nets and tried to catch Ivan Rakitic, making the Croatian doubt  himself… and also Barça. The 90 million that PSG were willing to put on the table made the Board of Directors study the departure of a 30-year-old player already clearly amortized already - he cost 20m - but Ernesto Valverde refused to lose one of his key pieces. The confidence of the’Txingurri' in Ivan and his happiness at Barcelona stopped the operation. The money was enough with Neymar but not with Rakitic.

The next battle ground has a name and surname: Frenkie de Jong. Barca had the young Ajax starlet under control but now the Catalans have no choice but to compete with Manchester City and PSG in the bidding for the player. The Parisians have already set the opening bid at 80m euros, tough already for Barça. First of all for simple cash reasons, and second because if they had to make such a big investment, the club would prioritize De Ligt’s arrival.

That does not mean that Barça will surrender De Jong. Éric Abidal is confident that the player's desire to wear the Barça shirt, as Dutch legends like Cruyff, Koeman, Neeskens, Kluivert or Cocu, among others, did before, will prevail over the money that City or PSG can offer. In addition, the good relationship between Ajax and Barça and the fact that Marc Overmars is the sporting director of the Dutch club allow the Catalan entity to dream of a happy ending.

If all the open fronts were not enough, Barça and PSG are preparing for another fight in the club offices. The Ndomebele case is on the horizon, although it is still early days yet. The Olympique Lyonnais midfielder has been on the agenda of Parisians for months, while, unlike De Jong, the Catalans are getting on board.

The endless war between PSG and Barça wears each other down while clubs like Olympique de Lyon and Ajax rub their hands. Neymar was the first major blow and Rabiot could level the balance. What will be next?