COMMENT: A barb from Vinicius Jr. A dig from the Madridista press. Arda Guler and Real Madrid. This is embarrassing for Barcelona... a humiliation for Joan Laporta... Well, not quite...

On first flush. At the surface level. Guler choosing Real Madrid over Barcelona is a blow for Laporta. A personal blow, at that. After all, Barca's president spoke openly. Bullishly. About signing the Fenerbahce superkid only hours before Real stepped in.

Indeed, it's not only Laporta - you could say - who was left with egg on his face. Deco, his newly appointed sporting director, had visited the family home. Had shaken hands with young Arda and secured a commitment from him. Only for it all to be turned on it's head a day later.

"Deco was in Istanbul," Laporta stated with Guler still in play. “Our scouting department was following him. We also have Deco's opinion.

"We are trying to complete the deal."

Laporta going public didn't do Deco any favours, particularly given the limitations the former Barca star was being forced to work with. But more on that later...

Of course, the blow has been masked - somewhat - by Barca's €65m swoop for Athletico Paranaense's superkid Vitor Roque. Though alongside last week's announcement came the qualifier that fans won't see the teen for another year.

In the meantime, Guler has been wowing 'em on social media. The Turk's form in his first days on the Valdebebas' training pitches is dominating news dispatches covering Real Madrid. They reckon they have one here. Juni Calafat, Real's chief scout, has done it again - so they say. The kid will be a first teamer this season, you just wait and see...

And to be fair, those Madridista journalists are probably right. Guler has everything to be a first teamer for Real Madrid. Not only for the future, but today. There's no reason to be cynical about this. No need to be a dampener. Guler is the real deal. And his move to Real Madrid is a wonderful, watershed moment for Turkish football.

Hamit Altintop. Nuri Sahin. Mesut Ozil (can we count him?). Guler isn't the first Turk to land at the Bernabeu. But he is the first to do so having come through the home nation's development system. As we say, it's a wonderful moment for those working inside the local game. The coaching staff at Fener and Genclerbigili should be floating today. Indeed, you only need witness the tears of Guler's former Fener teammates as they watched his presentation live from the club's canteen to realise how special an achievement this is.

There will be regret inside Barca - though more frustration. Yes, it does appear Laporta was outflanked and outwitted by his Real counterpart Florentino Perez. But that would be unfair. Effectively, Laporta and Deco were working with a stacked deck. They had their advantages in this race, sure, not the least Ali Koc, Fener's president and former boss of Beko, Barca's old shirt sponsor. Indeed, those close to Fener have claimed Koc was visibly fuming when announcing Guler would be going to Real and not Barca last week.

But Koc. Like Laporta and Deco. Had little choice but to accept Real's offer. As Deco was visiting the Guler family home, Barca had agreed with Fener to pay the player's €17.5 buyout clause. Deco had secured the commitment of the player. And everything - from Barca's perspective - appeared on track.

Problem was, there were complications in the agreement. Barca's financial issues - stemming from the work of the previous board - had meant negotiating with Koc a delayed payment of Guler's fee until 2024. The compromise being Guler would sign for Barca and spend the new season on-loan with Fener. The player, however, was reluctant to accept. Guler wanted to leave for the next phase of his career immediately. Even calls from heroes Ozil and Alex De Souza could not convince the teen, who's insistence became even firmer when Calafat came knocking.

In the end, Real simply blew Barca out the water. €20m to Fener - with a further €8m due in bonuses. A €10m commission to Guler's family. And a place on Carlo Ancelotti's senior Real squad. Still paying for the errors of the past, there was nothing Laporta nor Deco could do. Powerless to make a counter offer, Barca quickly stepped aside - despite the urgings of Koc.

"We agreed with both Arda Güler and Fenerbahçe and were ready to give €17.5m," said Laporta this week. "Then Real Madrid stepped in and bought the player for a lot more money. We didn't get into a transfer war because we thought there were a lot of players we could buy with this money without going into this race."

Perhaps. But the sticking point was the spending cap imposed by LaLiga. You fancy that another Barca, in another era, would not have capitulated so easily. But as we say, Laporta was powerless. It really did come down to the club's past mismanagement.

So Real Madrid are celebrating, gloating even: "Another one who chooses the greatest," as Vini Jr taunted Cules upon Guler's announcement. The lad has a chance, a big chance, of making it with Los Merengues.

But this was no humiliation for Barca. No embarrassment for Laporta. Today's board are still working through the mess they inherited. Guler, in current circumstances, was simply a step too far.