Barcelona's Pursuit of Rodri Intensifies with New €70 Million Bid

Barcelona have cranked up their pursuit of Rodri with a third bid worth around €70million (£60m) – and for the first time, Manchester City can see a deal coming into view.

The latest offer still falls short of City’s valuation, but the gap is narrowing. City want a package totalling about €80m (£68m) for a player who has come to define their era under Pep Guardiola. With bonuses and add-ons now on the table, the two clubs are edging towards common ground.

Rodri, 30, is into the final year of his contract at the Etihad, having arrived from Atletico Madrid in 2019 and built a medal collection that cements his status as a modern City great. Four Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups and, on a personal level, the 2024 Ballon d’Or. Few midfielders in the world can match that résumé.

Yet the landscape has shifted since Guardiola walked away at the end of last season. The manager who built the side around him has gone, and the sense is growing that Rodri could follow.

Barcelona tested the waters earlier this month with an opening bid of £38.5m. City barely blinked before rejecting it. The Catalan club came back again with an offer in the region of €60m (£51m), which was also dismissed. A third bid was always coming; now it has landed.

Inside the Etihad, there is a different tone this time. Club sources have indicated they now expect an agreement to be struck in the coming days, provided Barcelona push the overall package up to that €80m mark. The latest proposal is seen as another meaningful step in that direction.

Barcelona’s determination has never really been in doubt. They want the 6ft 3in Spain international to anchor their midfield for years, convinced that last season’s serious knee injury is behind him after his return to action and his starring role in Spain’s World Cup triumph this summer.

City, though, have tried to keep control of the situation. As revealed earlier in the window, they told Rodri he had to report back to Manchester if no deal with Barcelona was in place before pre-season began. He did exactly that, flying back to England while talks rumbled on in the background.

The Premier League champions also made their stance clear to the player’s representatives: if Rodri wanted Barcelona, his camp needed to help drag the offer closer to City’s demands. That message has hit home. Those close to the midfielder are now heavily involved, working in tandem with Barcelona to bridge the final financial gap.

All sides still believe this saga ends the same way – with Rodri walking out at Camp Nou in a Barcelona shirt. The player’s desire is unchanged. He remains intent on making the move, even as he trains and prepares as a Manchester City footballer.

For now, that is still his reality. He is on City’s books, part of their squad, the same metronome in midfield who has dictated the tempo of English football for half a decade. But with each improved bid, Barcelona are pulling him a little further away from the Etihad.

The next few days will decide whether City lose the heartbeat of their midfield to a new project in Catalonia, or whether one of the defining partnerships of recent Premier League history gets an unexpected final chapter.