Barcelona Pursues Rodri as City Eyes Enzo

Barcelona are not backing off. Their pursuit of Rodri has reached a third formal offer to Manchester City, the latest bid driving the fixed fee up to 70 million euros.

Talks started far lower. Barça opened around 45 million, nudged that towards 65, and have now gone again. Each proposal has been knocked back, yet the mood in Catalonia is anything but gloomy.

Inside the Camp Nou, optimism is growing that the deal can be closed this weekend. The feeling is similar in Manchester, where there is an expectation that negotiations are heading towards an agreement rather than a collapse.

A sale would give City valuable room to breathe under Financial Fair Play and clear the way to bring in a replacement. That part of the plan already has a name: Enzo.

Enzo in City’s sights, Chelsea dig in

Enzo Fernández remains the preferred option to step into the Etihad midfield if Rodri leaves. The deadline Chelsea had set around his future has passed, but the saga is not over. It has simply changed shape.

New Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca, who worked with Enzo at Chelsea, set out his position on Friday. City, he made clear, will not be drawn into Chelsea’s deadline tactics.

Chelsea’s message is just as firm. They insist they control the situation, pointing to a contract that ties Enzo to Stamford Bridge until 2032. From their side, there is no rush, no obligation, and certainly no bargain.

City, meanwhile, are not walking away. As Fabrizio Romano reported in his latest update, the club’s hierarchy have stayed in constant contact with Enzo’s agents over recent days. The interest is active, not theoretical.

What has shifted is the landscape around the talks. City still want Enzo, but they are no longer dealing with the same Chelsea who, as of Friday, had effectively opened a door to his departure on clearly defined terms, almost like a release clause. That door is no longer wide open.

Everything now loops back to Rodri. City intend to wait for the final outcome of Barcelona’s push before making their next move for Enzo. Only once the Rodri money – and FFP space – is settled will they decide how far they are prepared to go.

The question is simple and brutal: how much are Manchester City willing to pay to force open Stamford Bridge and bring the Argentine to the Etihad?