Barcelona's Bid for Rodri Rejected by Manchester City
Barcelona’s opening move for Rodri has been swatted away without a second thought.
Manchester City have rejected a £38.6million bid from the Catalan club for their midfield metronome, with the Premier League champions insisting they will only start listening at figures close to their £68.5m valuation.
From City’s side, the message is blunt: the offer is too low to even justify proper talks. No negotiation, not yet.
Barcelona push, City stand firm
Barcelona are not expected to walk away. Far from it. A second bid is already anticipated as they attempt to prise away a player they see as central to their next cycle.
Rodri, now 30 and a World Cup and Ballon d’Or winner, is understood to favour a move to Barcelona ahead of any other option. Real Madrid have also been credited with strong interest and had grown confident of landing him, especially with only a year left on his City contract. That confidence has been shaken.
The moment Barcelona entered the race, the landscape changed.
A return to La Liga on Rodri’s mind
Rodri has never hidden his desire to return to La Liga at some stage in his career. The timing now feels significant.
City are bracing for upheaval after the departure of long-serving manager Pep Guardiola, a seismic shift that has left several senior players considering their futures. Rodri is among those keen to move on this summer, sensing a natural point to close a defining chapter in Manchester and start another back in Spain.
He is currently recovering from minor back surgery undertaken after the World Cup, but is expected to be back in action before the end of the month. That recovery timeline suits Barcelona, who are targeting him as the long-term anchor of their midfield.
De Jong blow sharpens Barça’s focus
The need in Catalonia is acute. Frenkie De Jong is set to miss the start of the 2026/27 season after tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in July, a major setback for a side already wrestling with financial constraints and squad renewal.
Rodri, with his experience, positional intelligence and trophy record, is viewed as the ideal replacement — not just a stopgap, but the new reference point at the base of midfield. Barcelona know this kind of profile rarely becomes available, let alone with the player open to the move.
City plan for life after – but not at a discount
City, for their part, are not behaving like a club desperate to cash in. They have already acted in the market, spending £116m to bring Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest into their midfield department. The club are also heavily linked with Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi, who caught the eye with Morocco at the World Cup.
Those moves hint at a medium-term reshaping of the middle of the pitch, but not at any fire sale. If Rodri is to leave, it will be on City’s terms and at City’s price.
Barcelona have made their opening statement. City have slapped it down. The next bid will reveal how far the Catalans are willing to stretch to make Rodri the heartbeat of their next great team — and how serious City really are about holding their line.
