Real Madrid wanted, Rodri chooses Barcelona

Barcelona are eyeing Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who is also captain of the Spanish national team. (X/@SEFutbol)

JAKARTA - The hunt for Manchester City midfielder Rodri is getting hotter. Real Madrid, who are said to have the opportunity to sign Rodri, are being questioned by their rivals in La Liga Spain Barcelona, who suddenly made an offer for the Spanish national team captain. Even Rodri prefers Barca to Madrid.

Rodri will leave Man City immediately if he does not get a new contract. Madrid has also monitored Rodri's situation and hopes to recruit him.

The opportunity to bring Rodri back to Spain after wandering in the English Premier League for seven years with The Cityzens is very open.

Initially, Madrid competed with Paris Saint-Germain who were interested in hunting Rodri. Only, PSG managed to retain the Champions League trophy and then withdrew so that Madrid finally had no competitors to get the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner.

Madrid did not change its target even though it managed to get winger Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig for a price of 115.8 million pounds. Furthermore, Los Merengues prepared a fund of 43 million pounds to bring in Rodri.

Only there has been no agreement between Madrid and Man City regarding the transfer of the player whose contract expires next year.

Barca took advantage of the situation by submitting an offer for Rodri. While Man City was still holding off an offer from Madrid, unexpectedly Barca came with an offer of 60 million euros or around 51 million pounds. The offer was clearly higher than Madrid.

Barca are hoping to sign a defensive midfielder following Frenkie de Jong's knee injury while playing for the Netherlands at the 2026 World Cup.

De Jong's ligament injury is severe and it will take months to recover. There is no choice for the Blaugrana to find a midfielder to replace De Jong.

Barca also took quick steps to negotiate with Rodri. An important step that Madrid has not yet taken. Both parties have reached a personal agreement. Rodri, through his agent, stated that he would rather play under Hansi Flick than Jose Mourinho.

Only Barca's plan to get Rodri is still uncertain. Man City has set a price of 70 million euros for Rodri's price.

A pretty expensive price for a player whose contract will expire in 2027. If no one meets the offer, Man City could lose Rodri without getting a penny of transfer money.

The reason is that Rodri can already negotiate with other clubs without involving Man City in December 2026. However, Man City is still open to negotiations by lowering the bid price for Rodri.