Rodri the galáctico Florentino wants to prise from Guardiola | OneFootball

Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu three months after 10 December, with Álvaro Arbeloa now in the home dugout and Real Madrid clinging to the Champions League as their near sole target. According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, Rodri is fit after a ligament injury and again dictates City’s midfield.

Guardiola has remodelled City, with Rodri the hub. Madrid lack that organiser, as Xabi Alonso argued after Toni Kroos left and Luka Modric was not renewed. Florentino Pérez told him only Rodri would be pursued despite 200 million already spent on Huijsen, Alexander-Arnold, Carreras and Mastantuono.

That stance jarred with Xabi because Rodri’s deal runs to June 2027 and, at best, he would not leave before next summer. Pérez has sounded out a move and Rodri has said he would like to return to Spain at some point.

Pérez’s admiration grew after learning Rodri flew to Castellón to finish a Business Administration degree at the Universidad Jaime I. Now 29 and back in rhythm, he was branded ‘madridista’ in some Atlético forums, a label he neither denied nor confirmed.

On 27 March 2024 at the Bernabéu he scored two penalties in Spain’s 3-3 draw with Brazil, wearing the armband passed to him by Álvaro Morata days after his grandfather died.

Relations cooled in October 2024 when Madrid scrapped their Ballon d’Or trip after learning Rodri, not Vinícius, would win, then footage of him singing about the Brazilian drew criticism.

Pérez later said Rodri deserved a Ballon d’Or, though for the previous season’s treble and final-winning goal. Rodri has called Madrid’s interest an honour, and Pérez still sees him as the priority in midfield.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo