- Rodri has chosen Barcelona over Real Madrid, with talks set to begin between Barcelona and Manchester City.
Rodri agrees personal terms with Barcelona
Rodri has agreed to personal terms with Barcelona after a dramatic change in his transfer plans, according to Matteo Moretto. The player was initially keen on a move to Real Madrid, but he is tired of waiting for Los Blancos to make decisive club-to-club talks with Manchester City, as per the report. So the player reached an agreement with the Catalan side as they offered him guarantees regarding the negotiations with the English club.
Why Real Madrid lost momentum
Real Madrid was confident of signing Rodri in the summer after reaching broad agreement on personal terms, and they were already counting him in the plans for next season following the World Cup-winning campaign of the player with the Spanish national team. He won the Golden Ball for the best player in the tournament with his exceptional performance in midfield.
According to Gerard Romero, Hansi Flick personally spoke to Rodri and played a key role in convincing the midfielder about Barcelona's sporting project. Barcelona’s plan to sign a midfielder was activated when Frenkie de Jong was ruled out for 3-4 months of the season after tearing his ligament in his right knee.
Barcelona prepares Manchester City talks
Barcelona will initiate club-to-club talks with Manchester City in the coming hours to accelerate the process. RMC Sport’s Fabrice Hawkins reported that the English club wants €80 million to sanction the sale of the 30-year-old who has 1 year left on his contract, but for Barcelona, the club could agree to a fee in the region of €60-€70 million, considering the institutional relationship between the clubs even after the departure of Pep Guardiola.
While working on the Rodri deal, Barcelona continue to explore the striker market, with Julián Álvarez remaining a priority target.