Barcelona Pursues Rodri as City Stands Firm on Fee
Barcelona’s pursuit of Rodri is still alive and moving, but it is not over the line yet. Far from it.
Manchester City have already knocked back a second bid from the Catalan club: €60 million guaranteed, plus add-ons that could have taken the total package to €70 million. The Premier League side are standing their ground. They want a fixed fee in the region of €70–80 million for a player who, crucially, has just one year left on his contract.
Barça push to the limit
According to SPORT, Barcelona feel they have already stretched their finances as far as they realistically can. The €60m plus €10m in variables went in on Wednesday and came straight back with a “no” from City later that night. The talks, though, never stopped.
Inside the club, they are now working on what they consider their definitive offer. The idea is clear: one last push, then walk away if it fails.
Rodri is fully behind the move. The midfielder has told City he wants to leave the Premier League and has asked the club to ease his exit. That stance has emboldened Barcelona, who are preparing a new proposal expected to reach €65m fixed, plus €10m in bonuses.
Not all of those bonuses are equal. Around €5m would be tied to relatively attainable objectives, while the other €5m would be much harder to activate. The structure is designed to get City to say yes without Barça breaking their internal limits.
Barcelona aim to place that final offer on City’s table within hours. The hope is simple: secure an agreement quickly enough for Rodri to skip the trip back to Manchester altogether.
Player pushing for Barcelona switch
As things stand, Rodri is due back in Manchester on Friday. He would rather not board that flight.
His preference is to fly straight to Barcelona if the clubs can close the deal in time. He knows the effort Barça are making to sign him and has responded in kind, accepting concessions in his own contract compared with what he could have earned elsewhere.
Real Madrid were prepared to pay him more, but Rodri has stepped away from that option. The message is clear: this is a decision rooted in footballing ambition and personal conviction, not just numbers on a pay slip.
His determination to join Barcelona, and his willingness to sacrifice part of his salary expectations, could be decisive as the negotiations reach their most delicate phase.
City quietly plan for life after Rodri
Publicly, Manchester City can still insist they are comfortable keeping Rodri for the final year of his contract. Their recruitment strategy tells a different story.
The English champions are already in talks for midfield reinforcements, including Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez. Those moves point towards a squad being reshaped, a midfield being insulated against the loss of one of its central figures.
For Barcelona, the operation has turned out to be more complicated than first imagined. The financial margin is thin, the room for manoeuvre even thinner. Yet the distance between the two clubs is now small enough that a breakthrough could arrive at any moment.
One last offer, one last decision. Does City’s resolve hold, or does Rodri’s push for a new life in Barcelona finally tip the balance?
