Barcelona's Pursuit of Rodri Intensifies with New Offer
Barcelona have come back for Rodri again – and this time, Manchester City can feel the deal getting closer.
The Spanish giants have lodged a third offer worth around €70million (£60m) for the 30-year-old midfielder, a bid that still sits short of City’s valuation but finally edges into serious territory. City want a package that reaches €80m (£68m). The gap is shrinking.
Rodri is entering the final year of his contract at the Etihad, five years on from his 2019 arrival from Atletico Madrid. In that time he has become the heartbeat of a dominant era: four Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups, and the 2024 Ballon d’Or to crown it all. A modern City great.
Yet the Guardiola era has already ended, and the sense grows that its on-field general could follow his manager out of the door.
Barcelona keep coming
Barcelona first tested the water earlier this month with a bid of £38.5m. It was dismissed quickly. The Catalan club, though, never backed off.
They see Rodri as the anchor around which to build their next great side – a 6ft 3in controller who returned from a serious knee injury last season and went on to help Spain lift the World Cup this summer. For a club still searching for a long-term reference point in midfield, he is the statement signing.
City knocked back a second offer, worth around €60m (£51m), as revealed on Friday, but a third proposal was expected before the weekend was out. It arrived on cue.
Inside the Etihad, the mood has shifted. City sources now expect an agreement to be struck in the coming days, provided Barcelona push the overall package – including bonuses and add-ons – up to that €80m mark.
Player’s camp steps in
The pressure on Barcelona is not just coming from Manchester. It is coming from Rodri’s side as well.
City made their position clear earlier this month: if no agreement with Barcelona was in place by the start of pre-season, Rodri had to return to England. He did exactly that, reporting back to Manchester while talks rumbled on in the background.
At the same time, the club told his representatives they needed to be proactive in nudging Barcelona’s offer towards the required figure. That message has landed.
Rodri’s camp is now heavily involved, working in tandem with Barcelona to structure a deal that can satisfy City’s demands. The player remains determined to move to Camp Nou, and that desire is driving the negotiations forward.
Deal edging towards the line
Barcelona’s latest bid marks another significant step towards City’s valuation. With add-ons now forming a key part of the discussion, both clubs are edging into a zone where compromise feels inevitable rather than hypothetical.
All sides – City, Barcelona, and Rodri’s camp – are described as confident that a solution will be found. The expectation is that fresh talks in the coming days will attempt to close the remaining gap and finally unlock one of the summer’s defining transfers.
For now, Rodri is still a Manchester City player, back in familiar surroundings, training under new leadership as the post-Guardiola era takes shape.
But with Barcelona closing in and the numbers creeping ever higher, the question is no longer whether they are serious. It is how much longer City can hold on to the midfielder who came to define their greatest team.
