Barcelona intensifies Rodri pursuit with €70m 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 the finish line.

The offer still sits short of City’s asking price, but the gap is shrinking. Fast.

Barcelona close in on City’s midfield general

Rodri, 30, is heading into the final year of his contract at the Etihad, five years after arriving from Atletico Madrid in 2019. In that time he has become the heartbeat of a side that dominated English football and conquered Europe.

• Four Premier League titles.
• Two FA Cups.
• A Champions League.
• And, crowning it all, the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

Now, with Pep Guardiola gone at the end of last season, the prospect of City losing their midfield metronome in the same summer is suddenly very real.

Barcelona first tested the waters earlier this month with an opening bid of £38.5m. City brushed it aside. The Catalan club came back again with an offer worth around €60m (£51m). That, too, was rejected.

But the third proposal, tabled over the weekend and now confirmed at around €70m, has changed the tone of the talks. City sources have indicated they expect a deal to be wrapped up in the coming days, provided Barcelona push the total package – including bonuses and add-ons – up towards the €80m (£68m) mark.

That is the number City have had in mind all along.

Player’s camp steps in as negotiations intensify

The pressure around the deal has not just come from Barcelona’s side of the table.

Earlier this month, City made their stance clear: if an agreement with Barcelona was not in place before the start of pre-season, Rodri had to report back to Manchester. No exceptions, no extended leave while talks dragged on.

He did exactly that, returning to England while the clubs continued to haggle over the fee.

Behind the scenes, City also challenged Rodri’s representatives to help bridge the gap. If the midfielder wanted Camp Nou, his camp needed to play their part in nudging Barcelona closer to the figure City were demanding.

That message has landed. Those close to the player are now heavily involved in the discussions and are working in tandem with Barcelona to structure a deal that satisfies the Premier League champions.

The momentum is clear. With each bid, Barcelona have edged nearer to City’s valuation, and there is growing belief on all sides that the agreement will get done.

Rodri’s Barcelona dream within reach

Rodri remains a City player for now, training back in Manchester, his future still technically undecided. But the direction of travel is obvious.

He is determined to make the move to Barcelona, a club eager to rebuild their midfield around a 6ft 3in World Cup winner who returned strongly last season after a serious knee injury and then helped drive Spain to glory this summer.

Barcelona’s latest offer marks another significant stride towards the €80m mark. The expectation inside the negotiations is that fresh talks will narrow the remaining gap in the coming days.

The deal is not over the line yet. Not quite.

But with City now openly anticipating a conclusion and Barcelona refusing to back away, the question feels less like “if” and more like “how soon” the Etihad will have to start planning for life without their midfield cornerstone.