Barcelona targets Rodri as Man City faces tough decision

Barcelona have moved to the front of the queue for Rodri, preparing an approach to Manchester City as they try to beat Real Madrid to the signature of Spain’s captain.

The World Cup winner has entered the final year of his contract at the Etihad, a detail that has jolted Europe’s biggest clubs into action. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid want him. Both believe he can anchor their midfield for the next phase of their rebuilds. Only one will get the chance – if City bend at all.

Barcelona scent an opening

Encouraged noises from the player’s camp have given Barcelona fresh belief they can land the 28-year-old should he decide to move in this window. Their interest has accelerated sharply in the last 24 hours, with the Catalan club sensing a rare opportunity to prise away the man many regard as the most influential midfielder in world football.

They know they are not alone. Real Madrid have already opened talks with City, starting discussions last week and signalling a willingness to pay around £50m. For a player of Rodri’s stature, and in this market, that figure feels more like an opening gambit than a knockout blow.

Inside Barcelona, the message is simple: if Rodri truly becomes available, they want to be at the front of the line.

City dig in around their cornerstone

The problem for both Spanish giants is obvious. Manchester City do not want to sell.

Rodri is central to their plans under new head coach Enzo Maresca, who has been tasked with refreshing a squad that has already lost key figures in recent seasons. City hope to tie the Spaniard to a new long-term deal and build their next iteration around him, rather than cashing in with a year left on his contract.

He is currently out of action after successful back surgery following the World Cup and is expected to miss the Community Shield against Arsenal and City’s opening Premier League fixture. Even so, his importance to the team remains undisputed inside the club.

For City, the calculation is clear: keep the heartbeat of the side for another title push, or accept a fee that might not come close to replacing his influence.

Real Madrid’s Spanish reset

Across the capital, Real Madrid are wrestling with their own motivations. Florentino Perez faced criticism upon his re-election as president for the lack of Spanish representation in the squad at this summer’s World Cup. The response has been swift.

Marc Cucurella arrived from Chelsea as the tournament began, and Rodri is viewed as the next, decisive step in that recalibration. There is broad support within the club hierarchy for a move, and Madrid are now weighing whether to raise their initial £50m stance to test City’s resolve more aggressively.

The appeal is obvious: Spain’s captain, fresh from driving his country to glory, orchestrating games at the Bernabeu for years to come.

“What’s the point in selling him?”

Outside the boardrooms, the logic of a sale at that price is being openly questioned.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher dismissed the idea of City letting Rodri go for £40–50m.

“£40-50m? If you're Manchester City, what's the point in selling them? You might as well just keep them for the extra year,” he argued, calling Rodri “probably the best” in his position in the Premier League and highlighting his World Cup form as evidence he is back to his peak.

Carragher pointed to the second half of last season, when Rodri and Bernardo Silva “were fantastic and almost took Manchester City to the title.” Losing both – with Bernardo now at Real Madrid – would, in his view, rip out the core of City’s midfield.

“For me, I'd see those two as a pair,” he said, casting new signing Elliot Anderson as more of a Bernardo successor than a Rodri replacement. “It'd be really tough for them to win the Premier League without Rodri, even though they've got a lot of midfielders.”

He went further, recalling the season Liverpool won the title under Arne Slot, when an early Rodri injury damaged City’s campaign and opened the door for their rivals. “If I was Manchester City, I'd be keeping him and letting him go on a free,” Carragher insisted, pointing out City paid £60m for Rodri and asking what real impact a £40m fee would have in the current market. “I'd rather keep him.”

Irreplaceable – or close to it

Inside the game, there is broad agreement on the scale of the loss City would suffer.

Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter described Rodri’s departure as “massive,” stressing that despite his age and recent injury record, he has been the most complete central midfielder in the Premier League over the past five years. Pep Guardiola has long called him “the best midfielder in the world by far,” and City’s entire in-play structure has been built around his presence.

He dictates tempo, receives under pressure, and conditions the rhythm of games in a way few others can. Spain’s triumph this summer only reinforced that image: when Rodri controls the middle, his team tends to control everything else.

There is a stark statistic behind the praise. In the two seasons when injuries disrupted his rhythm, City failed to retain their Premier League crown. That is not coincidence; it is a measure of dependency.

So how do you replace that? The blunt answer: you don’t.

Elliot Anderson offers a partial answer. The England international, 23, arrives as a box-to-box force, with numbers that at least allow comparison. He is not yet the metronome Rodri is, but City believe he can grow into a similar level of influence in time.

For now, though, he is a “surrogate of sorts,” not a like-for-like successor.

A tug-of-war with no obvious winner

All of which leaves this saga finely poised.

Barcelona are hopeful. Real Madrid are circling and considering a bigger swing. City are resistant, clinging to a player who has come to define their style and success.

Rodri sits at the centre of it all: Spain’s captain, a World Cup winner, one year from freedom, and coveted by the two giants of his homeland.

If Manchester City do bend, the move will reshape the balance of power in LaLiga and force the Premier League champions into the most difficult question of all: how do you rebuild when the man who makes your team tick walks away?