Manchester City reject Barcelona’s opening £38.5m bid for Rodri as talks continue

Manchester City have rejected an offer of £38.5m (€45m) from Barcelona for Rodri and want at least £60m before allowing Spain’s World Cup-winning captain to depart.

Barcelona have emerged as Rodri’s preferred destination after talks with Real Madrid broke down this week. It is understood that the 30-year-old, who is now in the final year of his contract at City, has agreed personal terms with the Spanish champions after indicating that he would like to return to his homeland following the departure of Pep Guardiola.

Rodri moved to the Etihad in 2019 from Atlético Madrid and has turned down the offer of a lucrative extension. Yet City are believed to be adamant that he will not be allowed to leave for less than their asking price. Barcelona are continuing negotiations in the hope of reaching a compromise.

Rodri, who won the World Cup Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player last month, spoke to Barça’s manager, Hansi Flick, and sporting director, Deco, about a potential move on Wednesday.

The Spanish champions will be without Frenkie de Jong for several months after the Netherlands midfielder sustained a knee injury and have targeted Rodri as a replacement. He has had minor surgery on his back and will miss most of City’s pre-season programme.

City have signed Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m and remain in negotiations with Lille over a deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi. The Morocco midfielder could cost up to £80m but they could be tempted to bring in a more experienced replacement for Rodri should he depart, with Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández among those thought to be under consideration. The 25-year-old is also wanted by Real, whose manager, José Mourinho is said to not to have the news of being gazumped by their great rivals well. Reports in Spain have claimed that the 63-year-old is unhappy after making the signing of a central midfielder his priority on returning for a second stint at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Real have already brought in the winger Yan Diomande for £115m and Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konaté, Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Espí, so they may have to balance the books by selling either Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga if they want to pursue Argentinian Fernández.