Barcelona Nears Major Signing: Rodri's Arrival and Squad Number

Barcelona are closing in on one of the most significant signings of their summer – and the number on the back of the shirt is already part of the story.

The Catalan club have reached a full agreement with Manchester City to bring Rodri to the Spotify Camp Nou, with the official announcement expected within hours. The deal is set at 60 million euros as a fixed fee, with a further 16 million tied to incentives and variables, according to converging reports around the negotiations.

Rodri will sign a four-year contract and step straight into the upper wage bracket of the dressing room. His net salary will exceed 13 million euros per season, placing him among the highest earners in the squad and underlining just how central Barcelona see him to their new project.

Off the pitch, one detail has already been settled. Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that Rodri personally requested the number 16 shirt, the number that has followed him through his Manchester City career and with the Spanish national team.

That request landed at the feet of Fermin Lopez.

The young Barcelona midfielder currently wears 16, but, according to Romano’s account on X, he agreed to give it up and switch to the number 7 shirt instead. A small gesture, but one that clears the way for Rodri to keep his trademark number as he walks into a new dressing room.

Barcelona are expected to confirm the squad number when they make the transfer official. All signs point in the same direction: Rodri, in blaugrana, with his familiar 16 on his back, starting a new chapter in the heart of midfield at the Spotify Camp Nou.