Manchester City have paused their negotiations with Real Madrid over Rodri, and the reason is Barcelona.
The Premier League club are convinced the Catalan side are about to enter the race, according to reporting from Catalan daily SPORT, and they want that bid on the table before they agree anything with Madrid.
It is a leverage play, and Rodri’s contract, which runs down at the end of the coming season, is the reason it has to work now.
City ask around £56m, Madrid up to £51m
City are asking for around £56m and holding firm. Real Madrid have signalled they will not go past £43-51m in cash, hoping to close the rest of the gap with performance-based bonuses.
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Sky Sports reported on 31 July that Madrid are willing to pay £43m-£51m and that City’s preference remains to negotiate a new long-term contract rather than sell at all.
Jamie Carragher, on Sky’s coverage, argued City should keep him.
“If you’re Manchester City, what’s the point in selling them? You might as well just keep them for the extra year.”
Rodri wants only the Bernabéu
The complication for City’s strategy is Rodri himself. The 30-year-old midfielder has told those around him that he will not entertain another Spanish destination if he leaves Manchester.
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Barcelona made an initial approach to assess his situation, according to AS, and PSG have also made contact. Rodri’s answer to both has been the same.
The Ballon d’Or holder on the market
The player at the centre of the standoff is the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner and the Golden Ball winner from the World Cup Spain won in July. City signed him from Atlético Madrid in 2019 for €70m.
Physically the picture is not straightforward. Rodri had back surgery last week and is expected to miss the Community Shield and the opening Premier League fixture, a year on from the ACL injury that cost him most of the previous season.
Leverage only works if Barcelona bid
If the Catalans hold off, City are left staring at a Madrid bid roughly £5-13m short of their valuation, a player pushing to go, and a contract clock ticking towards free-transfer territory next summer.
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