Barcelona Pursues Rodri with €70 Million Bid

Barcelona have cranked up their pursuit of Rodri with a third bid worth around €70million (£60m) – and the move that once felt improbable is edging towards reality.

The offer still falls short of Manchester City’s valuation, but the gap is narrowing. City are holding firm at an overall package of about €80m (£68m), yet there is a growing sense on all sides that this saga is heading in one direction.

City’s midfield pillar at a crossroads

Rodri, 30, is into the final year of his contract at the Etihad. Signed from Atletico Madrid in 2019, he has grown into the heartbeat of a City side that dominated English football under Pep Guardiola.

• Four Premier League titles.
• Two FA Cups.
• A Champions League.
• And, crowning it all, the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

He is not just another outgoing player. He is the symbol of an era.

But that era is already breaking up. Guardiola walked away at the end of last season, and the prospect of Rodri following him out of the club no longer feels remote.

Barcelona keep coming back

Barcelona first tested City’s resolve earlier this month with an opening bid of £38.5m. It was knocked back without a second thought.

They came again with a second offer of around €60m (£51m). Same response. Not enough.

The Catalan club, though, have not flinched. They see Rodri – 6ft 3in, a metronome in possession and a shield without the ball – as the cornerstone of their next midfield. The Spain international, who helped his country win the World Cup this summer, returned from a serious knee injury last season and quickly looked like himself again. That only hardened Barcelona’s conviction.

Now comes the third proposal, roughly €70m. Still shy of City’s demand, but close enough to drag everyone back to the table.

Inside City, the mood has shifted. Club sources indicate they now expect a deal to be wrapped up in the coming days, provided Barcelona can stretch the total package – including bonuses and add-ons – towards that €80m mark.

Player’s camp steps into the spotlight

City set clear ground rules weeks ago. If no agreement with Barcelona was in place before pre-season, Rodri had to report back to Manchester.

He did exactly that. While the talks rumbled on, he returned to England and resumed duty as a City player.

Behind the scenes, though, his representatives were handed a second task: help Barcelona get closer to the number City want. The message from the Etihad was blunt – if Rodri truly wanted the move, his camp had to be active in pushing the deal over the line.

They have taken that on. Those close to the midfielder are now working in tandem with Barcelona, searching for a structure that satisfies City’s valuation without breaking the Catalans’ fragile finances.

The result is this third bid, which edges the offer up again and pulls both clubs into the same negotiating corridor.

Deal edging into view

With add-ons now forming a key part of the conversation, the two sides are finally operating in the same financial ballpark. Barcelona believe they are closing in. City, while still demanding their price, no longer dismiss the prospect of a sale.

Crucially, Rodri’s stance has not wavered. He remains determined to make the move to Camp Nou and anchor Barcelona’s midfield for the next phase of his career.

All parties retain confidence that a “successful conclusion” is coming. That success, for Rodri, would be a return to Spain as the Ballon d’Or-winning general of a new project. For City, it would be a sizeable fee for a 30-year-old entering the final year of his contract, even if it means ripping out the core of their team.

For now, he is still a Manchester City player. He trains, he reports, he waits.

But with Barcelona’s latest bid dragging the numbers closer than ever, the question no longer feels like “if” – only how quickly the final gap can be closed, and how City plan to live without the man who made their midfield tick.