Barcelona Advances on Rodri with New Offer
Barcelona’s pursuit of Rodri is still alive and moving, but the deal is not over the line yet.
Manchester City have already turned down Barça’s second bid: €60 million fixed, with bonuses that could have taken the total to €70 million. The Premier League champions are holding firm, asking for a guaranteed fee in the €70–80 million range for a player who has just one year left on his contract.
They know his value. And they are pricing him accordingly.
Barça push finances to the limit
According to SPORT, Barcelona believe they are already operating at the edge of what they can afford. Their latest offer – €60m plus €10m in variables – went in on Wednesday and came straight back with a ‘no’ from City.
The talks, though, have not collapsed.
Inside the club, work is now focused on what is being described as a definitive proposal. Barcelona plan to raise the fixed part to around €65m, with a further €10m in bonuses. Around €5m of those add-ons would be realistically reachable; the other €5m would be significantly harder to activate.
That structure could finally unlock the deal. Barça want the new offer on City’s table within hours, hoping to close an agreement quickly enough for Rodri to change his travel plans.
Rodri pushing to avoid Manchester return
For now, Rodri is due back in Manchester on Friday. He would rather not board that flight.
The midfielder’s preference is clear: go straight to Barcelona if the clubs can strike a deal in time. He is fully behind Barça’s efforts and, crucially, has made his own financial sacrifices to help the move happen.
Rodri has turned down amounts that Real Madrid were willing to pay, a decision that underlines how much this move is driven by sporting and personal priorities rather than by salary alone. His stance, and his direct request to City to ease his exit from the Premier League, could prove decisive in this final stretch.
City already planning for life without him
Publicly, Manchester City can still insist they are prepared to keep Rodri for the final year of his contract. Their recruitment tells a different story.
The English club are in talks for midfield reinforcements, including Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez, signings that would help soften the blow if the Spain international walks out of the Etihad.
For Barcelona, the negotiations have been more demanding than first anticipated. The numbers have been pushed, reworked, and pushed again. Yet the distance between the two clubs is now small enough that one firm decision – in Manchester or in Barcelona – could settle Rodri’s future in a single day.
Does he step back into City blue on Friday, or does he land in Catalonia to start a new era at the heart of Barça’s midfield?
