Rodri, the 30-year-old Spanish midfielder in the final year of his Manchester City contract, is poised to join FC Barcelona after talks with Real Madrid stalled primarily over the transfer fee [1, 2, 3, 4].
Rodri missed most of the 2023-24 season due to a serious knee injury and underwent minor back surgery in late July 2026, leaving him sidelined for much of City's pre-season [1, 2, 3, 5, 4]. Despite these setbacks, he captained Spain to the 2026 World Cup title in North America and won the 2024 Ballon d'Or as well as the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player [1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4].
Barcelona recently secured Rodri's approval to begin official transfer negotiations with Manchester City and is now his preferred destination after convincing calls from Barça coach Hansi Flick [2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9]. A Barcelona club source said, "Today, Barcelona is closer to being able to consider this transfer than yesterday. We have now secured the player’s agreement to open negotiations with Manchester City." [2]
Manchester City have historically been seeking around £60 million (€60-75 million) for him, but rejected Barcelona's initial offer of £38.5 million (€45 million) on August 7, maintaining a minimum asking price around £60 million [2, 3, 5, 10, 8]. Reports indicate that while Barcelona’s bid was refused, Rodri has been offered to them for a fee possibly as low as €60-69 million [5, 8, 9].
Talks with Real Madrid collapsed mainly due to the fee disagreements. An anonymous source told SPORT, "The main sticking point is a failure to reach an agreement between Manchester City and Real Madrid. It’s practically broken and will be difficult to redirect unless Madrid do not make a significant effort." [11] Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said, "Real Madrid have been in talks with City for weeks but MCFC didn’t accept to proceed immediately as it felt more clubs were joining the race. It’s up to the player." [8]
Rodri reportedly prefers Barcelona over Real Madrid after discussions with Hansi Flick, with sources close to negotiations stating, "Rodri chooses Barça. The midfielder has given his approval to Hansi Flick’s project." [2, 6, 7, 12, 9]
Barcelona sees Rodri as a replacement for injured Frenkie de Jong, who is expected to be sidelined for 3 to 6 months due to a knee injury [2, 6, 7, 5, 10]. Rodri earns around £220,000 ($296,000) weekly at Manchester City, and salary demands remain a potential hurdle though less emphasized currently [12, 9]. Meanwhile, Manchester City is preparing replacements, negotiating for Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi and Chelsea's Enzo Fernández [3, 5, 4].
Barcelona still needs to secure financial resources to complete the deal, with final transfer fee estimates around €60-70 million [8, 12, 9]. The next steps will focus on these negotiations as Barcelona aims to finalize signing Rodri soon.
