‘Pity For Him’—Real Madrid Star Fires Shot at Rodri’s Decision to Join Barcelona

Barcelona acquiring Rodri from Manchester City is considered by many as the signing of the summer, but for Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, the Spaniard’s decision to pick the Catalans over Los Blancos is "a pity for him.”

For much of the spring and early summer, Real Madrid were the team most closely linked with luring the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner away from the Premier League and back to La Liga. In a blink of an eye, though, Barcelona entered the race and quickly struck personal terms with the midfielder to essentially take Los Blancos out of the running. Eventually the Catalans reached an official deal with Man City to make Rodri a Blaugrana.

Real Madrid opened the season with a cardiac 2–1 win over Espanyol on Saturday night. Following the match, Courtois was asked about Rodri’s decision to snub Los Blancos, given the Spaniard was staying at the same hotel as Jose Mourinho’s side on the night of their La Liga opener.

“Every player chooses where they want to be,” Courtois said. “If he didn’t want to be with us then it’s a pity for him. In the end, he’s a great player, but he made his decision and that’s it.

“And the fact that he was at our hotel, well, it’s big [the hotel], there’s many people there.”

Real Madrid’s Season Debut Highlights Why They Wanted Rodri

José Mourinho must find Real Madrid’s strongest midfield. | Hesham Elsherif/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Rodri was viewed as the perfect solution for Real Madrid’s biggest issue over the past two seasons. For all the talk regarding the chemistry—or lack thereof—between Vinícius Junior and Kylian Mbappé, an unbalanced and shaky midfield has been Madrid’s Achilles heel since the departure of club legends Toni Kroos and, to a lesser extent, Luka Modrić.

Los Blancos splashed north of $200 million in the summer transfer window ahead of the start of the second chapter of the Mourinho era at the Bernabéu, solidifying the backline and spending big on exciting wonderkid Yan Diomande. However, a position Los Blancos failed to invest in significantly was midfield, outside of Bernardo Silva—who isn’t a traditional No. 6.

After Madrid whiffed on Rodri, they opted not to pivot to an alternative, and in their 2025–26 La Liga debut, Silva played alongside Federico Valverde in midfield in Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 set-up. Summer signing Carlos Espí rescued three points in stoppage time for Los Blancos, but Valverde and Silva failed to inspire any confidence and serious doubts remain over the state of Madrid’s midfield.

It remains entirely too early to make any conclusions, but it’s clear that Real Madrid’s issues in the middle of the pitch continue to be glaring. How Mourinho handles the lack of a Kroos successor will likely be the key to a successful return to the Bernabéu dugout.

Barcelona’s Midfield Room Is Overcrowded

Real Madrid may lack variants and profiles in midfield, but Barcelona have a wealth of them at the position—arguably too many.

Upon Rodri’s arrival, Barcelona now have five natural central midfielders on their depth chart, and that’s not counting Frenkie de Jong, who will be sidelined for a considerable time with a knee injury. Furthermore, Eric García and Andreas Christensen have also played in the No. 6 role at times since the start of the Hansi Flick era, as did La Masia fullback Xavi Espart in preseason.

Suddenly the Catalans have an unbalanced squad, rich in alternatives in midfield but devoid of a natural center forward outside of 18-year-old Hamza Abdelkarim, who will likely make his official senior Barça debut in the club’s season opener.

Marc Casadó has been linked with an exit from the club all summer, but nothing has materialized, and the transfer deadline is fast approaching.

For now, Rodri is working his way back to full fitness after a minor back procedure after the World Cup, and he won’t feature in Barcelona’s season debut vs. Elche on Sunday night. When he’s back, though, it will be interesting to see how Flick handles the crowded midfield depth chart currently at his disposal.

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