New Favorite for Rodri Deal With Real Madrid Move in the Balance

Real Madrid’s move for Manchester City’s Rodri is reportedly in the balance as player and club have been unable to agree personal terms, opening the door for Barcelona to explore a deal.

Rodri had been a prime summer target for Madrid, with the Spanish giants looking to sign a deep-lying midfield controller—a profile missing in the squad since the departure of Toni Kroos two years ago.

Rodri, 30, has long been seen as a potential candidate for Madrid and has previously spoken encouragingly about a move to the Bernabéu in the future.

After some apparent initial reluctance, Los Blancos president Florentino Pérez is understood to have green lit a move for Spain’s World Cup-winning captain this summer, with the club prepared to pay over €50 million ($57.75 million).

However, SPORT now reports that talks between Madrid and Rodri’s camp have “effectively collapsed” and “appear difficult to salvage”.

For his part, Rodri is said to have been ready to sign four-year contract at the Bernabéu, but Madrid’s overall offer “failed to convince him”. The move has now been put on ice.

Real Madrid and Rodri’s Uneasy Relationship Explained

In many ways, Real Madrid moving for Rodri make a whole lot of sense.

Coming off the back of his World Cup triumph, Rodri’s stock hasn’t been this high since he won the Ballon d’Or in 2024. He is a truly elite player in a position that Real Madrid badly need to strengthen.

On top of that, he is also a Madrid native and had less than a year remaining on his contract at Manchester City. Finding another player of his level available in the market is virtually impossible.

However, there are also reasons why the jigsaw doesn’t fit.

Rodri featured heavily in the recent presidential campaign of his Pérez’s rival, Enrique Riquelme, who promised to refund all members’s fees if he failed to sign the Manchester City star. Riquelme was defeated at the polls at the start of June, while Pérez has seemingly remained uncomfortable with the idea of endorsing a policy of his challenger.

There was also the infamous incident at the 2024 Ballon d’Or awards where Pérez led a Real Madrid boycott of the ceremony for soccer’s top individual awards, because Vinícius Júnior had lost out.

While Rodri and Madrid were apparently willing to engage in talks over a transfer this month, SPORT claim these factors are said to have contributed to a “tense backdrop” in negotiations.

There may, however, be more prosaic reasons for the breakdown in talks. Rodri’s history of injury issues and the fact he is now the wrong side of 30 could well give Madrid pause about offering the player the kind of bumper terms he wants.

Barcelona Ready to Move

Hansi Flick FC Barcelona — Madrid’s reluctance opens the door to Barça. | Nigel French/PA Images/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s inability to get the deal done leaves room for rivals Barcelona, who The Athletic report “have held talks with the player’s camp.”

Previous reports from Spain have suggested that Rodri’s preference had been to move to Madrid. However, at Barcelona he would be reunited with eight of Spain’s World Cup team, including Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Ferran Torres.

Barcelona’s interest in Rodri now stems from the injury to fellow midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who is expected to miss a significant portion of the upcoming season with torn knee ligaments.

With Hansi Flick’s team also pursuing a striker, The Athletic claim that the club would need to sell players in order to proceed with the deal.

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