Barcelona clear huge Rodri transfer hurdle as Man City receive third offer for Ballon d’Or winner

Barcelona have made a third offer for Rodri worth around €70million (£60m), TEAMtalk can reveal, but the proposal remains below Manchester City’s valuation.

The 30-year-old is into the last year of his contract at the Etihad after joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019. Since then, he has earned legendary status at Man City.

The defensive midfielder has won four Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups, and, individually, he claimed the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

But following the exit of legendary manager Pep Guardiola at the end of last season, it seems Rodri could be leaving Man City as well.

Earlier this month, Barcelona submitted an offering bid of £38.5m for the Spain international, who helped his country win the World Cup this summer.

That proposal was swiftly rejected but the Catalan outfit are determined to recruit the 6ft 3in player, who returned to action last season after a serious knee injury.

TEAMtalk reported on Friday that City’s second offer, worth around €60m (£51m), had been rejected and that a third bid was expected over the weekend. That is exactly how the situation has developed.

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City sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that they now expect a deal to be completed in the coming days, but Barcelona will need to get the overall package up to €80million (£68m).

Barcelona confident of Rodri deal

With bonuses and add-ons included, the two sides are now understood to be getting much closer to City’s valuation and there is growing confidence that the transfer will eventually be agreed.

As TEAMtalk exclusively revealed earlier this month, City had insisted that Rodri return to England if a deal with Barcelona was not completed before the start of pre-season.

That is exactly what happened, with the Spain international reporting back to Manchester while negotiations continued between the two clubs.

City had also made it clear to Rodri’s representatives that they needed to play an active role in getting Barcelona’s offer closer to the required figure.

TEAMtalk understands the player’s camp has indeed become heavily involved in the negotiations and is now working alongside Barcelona in an effort to find a solution.

All parties remain confident that the situation will reach a successful conclusion, with Rodri still determined to make the move to the Camp Nou.

Barcelona’s latest proposal represents another significant step towards City’s €80m valuation and the expectation is now that further talks will close the remaining gap in the coming days.

For now, Rodri remains a Man City player, but the latest bid has brought the proposed move to Barcelona significantly closer.

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