A lot can change in six months.
Last summer, it looked like Manchester City would lose out not once but twice to Real Madrid. The Spanish giants looked to be leading the race to sign Erling Haaland in 2022, with reports that it was a childhood dream of his to wear the famous white shirt at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
It also looked like Carlo Ancelotti's side had a chance of nicking one of City's premier talents from right under their noses. Bernardo Silva asked to leave the club for the second summer running, and Madrid was tipped as one likely destination.
Those headlines no-doubt delighted Florentino Perez, Real Madrid's egotistical president and ring leader of the failed European Super League project (which he insists is still alive and well).
Perez has long been a critic of City, claiming that the Blues and Paris Saint-Germain - relative newcomers to football's elite - will ruin the game with their 'new' money. Presumably, he sees no issue with his club's hoarding of Spanish talent over the decades, the hundreds of millions of pounds he spent on his Galacticos in the early 2000s or the financial inequality within La Liga that exists.
That City landed a blow to his Super League vanity project - billed as saving football rather than destroying it - by being one of the first clubs to pull out likely didn't do much to endear him to Pep Guardiola's side. Revenge would have tasted all so sweet to him.
But now it looks like Perez might get his revenge served neither warm nor cold. The latest reports from Spain suggest that Real Madrid is out of the running to sign Haaland this summer, with Los Blancos instead opting to bring in out-of-contract PSG star Kylian Mbappe on a free and pump funds into rejuvenating their ageing midfield.
A midfield refresh would have suggested a move for Bernardo, but that no longer seems a viable option either.
Factors in Bernardo's desire to leave the club included the isolation that came with living in a foreign country during multiple Covid-19 lockdowns, but as restrictions have eased, he appears to be enjoying life off the pitch more.
That has translated onto the pitch, with the Portuguese star being City's stand-out performer this season. Few, if any, players in world football can match the creativity, work rate and technical brilliance that have characterised his outings this term.
City seems confident that Bernardo will sign a new contract over the coming months, even if his current deal isn't set to expire until 2025. According to Real Madrid-focused magazine MadridistaReal , Perez no longer considers Bernardo a transfer target.
City are obviously ahead of Los Blancos on the pitch, but this would send a pretty significant message off it. It suggests that Real Madrid know that they can no longer blunder in and buy whoever they please and that perhaps they do not quite possess the appeal they once did.
In fact, it might not be an exaggeration to suggest that the tables have turned. Real Madrid hijacked City's pursuit of Isco in 2013, but with an ageing midfield of their own now, Guardiola's side could well pip Carlo Ancelotti's side to their targets.
Midfield starlets Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch are on Real Madrid's radar, but City is reportedly keeping tabs. Should City sign Haaland, keep Bernardo and even swoop for one of the aforementioned pair, then they wouldn't be ruining football; they would be ruining Real Madrid.
Are City sending a message to Real Madrid and Florentino Perez? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
