Rodri's Potential Move to Real Madrid Gains Momentum
Real Madrid’s long courtship of Rodri is moving towards its decisive moment, with Spanish outlet AS reporting that both club president Florentino Pérez and coach José Mourinho have approved a move for the Manchester City midfielder.
The operation, years in the making, now feels like a matter of timing rather than intent. AS goes as far as to suggest a “solution within the next 24 hours”, with representatives from both clubs due to meet on Thursday to try to close the deal once and for all.
A fee that changes the game
The numbers tell their own story. Early in the saga, figures around €100 million were being floated, a price that reflected both City’s reluctance and Rodri’s status as arguably the most influential holding midfielder in the game.
That stance has clearly shifted.
AS now reports a fee in the region of €40 million to €50 million – a dramatic drop from those initial estimates and a sum Real Madrid would be prepared to wire to Manchester. For a player of Rodri’s pedigree, and at 30 years of age, it is the kind of price that turns a dream signing into a boardroom obligation.
The change in valuation mirrors a change in mood in Manchester.
City bow to the player’s will
Marca had already signalled on Tuesday that the Sky Blues were no longer digging in their heels. The English champions, it said, “hold the player in the highest regard” but are ready to accept his departure if that is what he decides.
That line is crucial. City have tried for months to tie Rodri down to an extended deal ahead of schedule. His current contract runs until 2027, yet talks over an early renewal have stalled. For a club famed for controlling its squad cycles, this summer now looks like the last realistic chance to cash in before the risk of losing him for nothing becomes uncomfortably real.
The pressure finally told. When a player of Rodri’s stature makes it clear where he wants to be, even a powerhouse like City has to listen.
A midfielder who has never hidden his dream
Rodri has not exactly played the diplomat. He has repeatedly signalled that a move to the Bernabéu would be more than just another transfer. Fabrizio Romano has written that the midfielder would “love” the move and “dream” of pulling on the famous white shirt.
This is not a late conversion. Real Madrid have had Rodri on their wishlist for some time, tracking him as the natural heir to their golden midfield era. When he lifted the Ballon d’Or after an outstanding 2023/24 season and then shone again as the standout performer at the 2026 World Cup, the noise around him only intensified.
Real, the club that had boycotted the Ballon d’Or ceremony, were still quietly positioning him as the long-term successor to Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić. Public distance, private admiration.
Rodri has played his part in keeping that door open. In March, he said in an interview that you “cannot just easily turn Real down” if they come calling. For Madrid’s hierarchy, that line will have sounded like an invitation.
A return to a familiar city, a different shirt
If the deal goes through, Rodri’s move will also carry a sharp local twist. The Spain international came through the ranks at Atlético Madrid and spent the 2018/19 season in the first team before heading to City. To return to the Spanish capital now, but in white rather than red and white, would add a layer of drama that Madrid derbies hardly need.
For Real, that is secondary to the footballing logic. Kroos has already stepped away, Modrić is deep into the final chapter of a glittering career, and the club has been methodically building a new core. Rodri would not just plug a gap; he would anchor an era.
City, meanwhile, face the prospect of losing the metronome of their midfield. They have survived big departures before, but replacing a player who dictates tempo, protects the back line and sets the platform for everything else is a different kind of challenge.
The next 24 hours, if AS are right, will tell whether this long-running pursuit finally ends with Rodri walking into Valdebebas as Madrid’s new midfield reference point – and walking out at the Bernabéu to start rewriting the story of their post-Kroos, post-Modrić age.
