Rodri is now on the verge of completing a move to Barcelona after Manchester City accepted a £65.4 million bid for the World Cup-winning midfielder, bringing an increasingly dramatic transfer saga to what appears to be its final chapter. The deal follows two rejected Barcelona offers and the 30-year-old’s reported preference to return to Spain.
City Finally Accept That Rodri Has Found His Exit Route
For weeks, Manchester City appeared determined to keep their midfield linchpin, even as Rodri entered the final year of his contract and Barcelona repeatedly tested the club’s resolve. The first Barcelona offer was reportedly around £38.5 million before a second bid of approximately £51 million was rejected. The latest £65.4 million proposal, however, finally proved powerful enough to make City reconsider their position.
In classic transfer-window fashion, City’s resistance eventually met the unavoidable mathematics of football: sell now or risk watching a superstar walk away for nothing next summer. Rodri, who joined City from Atlético Madrid in 2019, has made 298 appearances and collected 12 major honours, including four Premier League titles and the 2023 Champions League. He also became the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.
Bouaddi Arrives as City Search for a New Midfield General
With Rodri apparently heading for Barcelona, City are already preparing for life without the player who has spent seven seasons making midfield look like a personal control room. New manager Enzo Maresca has described Rodri as a “top player”, but City’s transfer plans indicate that the club has accepted that replacing such influence will require more than simply changing the name on the team sheet.
Enter Ayyoub Bouaddi, the highly rated Lille midfielder whom City are closing in on as part of their midfield rebuilding operation. City have already invested heavily in Elliot Anderson and remain interested in Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández, while the departure of Tijjani Reijnders and the expected loss of Rodri have created an unusually large vacancy in the engine room. The teenager’s arrival could therefore become one of the most important pieces of Maresca’s first season in charge.
For now, Rodri’s Barcelona move still requires the formal completion of the transfer process, but the reported agreement represents a major turning point for both clubs. Barcelona appear ready to add an elite midfielder with Spanish pedigree, while City are preparing for the rather uncomfortable task of discovering whether several new midfielders can collectively replace one man who became almost synonymous with their control of games. OGM News FC will continue watching the transfer window closely, because in football, the final whistle on a transfer story often arrives only after somebody has signed the paperwork.
