Following a sour campaign that concluded with Zinedine Zidane's departure, Real Madrid took things slowly in the summer. Even though they've also seen Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane leave, they didn't feel the need to go into the transfer market and make a splash.

Well, it's also true that their idea was to sign Kylian Mbappe from PSG, as they even made a series of late bids hoping to get the deal done. However, the only new arrivals in Madrid were Eduardo Camavinga from Rennes and David Alaba, who joined for nothing as he ran out of contract with Bayern Munich.

That experience seems to have pleased the front office, as El Merengue now eye an Inter Milan player whose deal expires at the end of the season. But it seems like they could face competition from lifelong rivals Barcelona.

Real Madrid reportedly face competition from Barcelona for Inter Milan player

It's not a secret that Barca will struggle to make big signings in the near future due to their financial crisis, which is why they have to look for cheaper options such as targeting out-of-contract players.

According to Italian newspaper La Reppublica, Joan Laporta's board have Inter's Marcelo Brozovic on their radar. However, El Catalan claims that Real Madrid are willing to make an even bigger effort to land the Croatia international after learning about Barca's interest.

The report adds that fellow Croatian Luka Modric could play a crucial role in convincing Brozovic to play at Santiago Bernabeu. Besides, Madrid will be able to offer a higher signing bonus than their rivals.

Brozovic's future is up in the air as the months go by and he doesn't put pen to a new contract at San Siro. And, besides the La Liga giants' interest, he has been linked with PSG and Manchester United. Will El Merengue have the upper hand on the race to sign him?