Man City, Rodri and the £50m question faced in post-Pep world | OneFootball

Forget Barcelona. Forget PSG. Forget Bayern Munich. The only two clubs competing for the signature of Rodri are Manchester City and Real Madrid. The club that made him a superstar and the club that signs superstars.

With under a year left on Rodri’s deal, Real Madrid are pushing to bring the Spaniard to the capital; Sky Sports have reported that a bid in the region of £50million is expected but is yet to materialise. But why bid when you can simply unsettle? We have seen this from Real Madrid so many times before.

Forbes claim that City have set their selling price for the Spanish colossus at £75million. Whilst this may seem cheap for this summer’s Golden Ball winner, certain factors must be taken into account: Rodri has just turned 30, his contract expires in June 2027, and he suffered from several injuries last season after his return from a lengthy break with a ruptured ACL.

Since his comeback in the penultimate league game of the 2024/25 season, Rodri has been sidelined for 134 days, missing 27 games combined for club and country. He played just 21 times in the Premier League for City last season, with an average of 72 minutes per game. That’s the lowest number of league appearances he has recorded over a season – barring the campaign he ruptured his ACL – since his breakout season at Villarreal a decade ago. Rodri has also undergone back surgery since Spain’s World Cup final victory, which will likely see him miss City’s opening fixture against Bournemouth.

If City can manage to haggle Madrid into meeting their asking price, they would be miraculously recording a profit on a player they signed as a 23-year-old for £62.8 million. Not bad considering what the ball-playing midfielder has achieved whilst playing in Manchester.

But how likely is that? Real Madrid have form for expressing interest in players who are coming towards the end of their contract, and then eventually signing them on a free transfer, something Enzo Maresca and Manchester City will surely want to avoid. Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate are just four of the players who have signed for Madrid on a free in the past few seasons, and if Manchester City had the choice, they’d surely prefer an offer of over £50million to none at all.

And then you have to look at the players that Manchester City have brought in – Elliot Anderson, an impressive midfielder who shone for Nottingham Forest last season and England over the summer, and potentially Ayyoub Bouaddi, an incredibly talented holding player who started five of Morocco’s six World Cup matches. Whilst some have identified Anderson as Bernardo Silva’s replacement, there’s no doubt that the potential signing of Bouaddi would be to fill the spot Rodri may vacate, although that is no easy task for an 18-year-old.

Per 90 minutes of league football last season, Elliot Anderson made more tackles, interceptions, blocks, dribbles and won more duels than Rodri, likely due to his intense and high-pressing style. Whilst he would probably play slightly further forward than Rodri typically does, Anderson does possess many similar attributes to the Spaniard, and is even better in others, but doesn’t match him in areas such as passing and aerial prowess.

Many City fans would love to see Rodri nurture Anderson for a year or even longer – if an extension is agreed – to allow Anderson to develop into an even better player, but these plans could be scuppered if Real Madrid get their way.

Bouaddi, who had a fantastic breakout season for Lille last season that was then capped off by a captivating World Cup display, would also benefit greatly from the guidance of Rodri, but his move to the sky blue of Manchester could be dependent on Rodri’s movements.

Rumours spreading across social media claim that Bouaddi’s transfer to Manchester – which will likely cost City over £85million – will only be confirmed if Rodri leaves, and if the veteran midfielder stays until next season, the transfer will be delayed until the summer of 2027. It appears City view the young Moroccan as the only candidate to replace their only ever Ballon d’Or winner.

If over £50m is on the table, would it be wise for City to let Rodri go? Should they cash in while he commands a fee? But on the flip side, can they afford to lose Rodri in Maresca’s first season?

They may hold back because of Madrid’s alleged reluctance to meet the £75million asking price; according to Forbes, Madrid don’t want to pay over £50million for Rodri. But this could just be a negotiation tactic from the Spanish giants as flirting between the player and club has been ongoing for months, with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez under fire during the World Cup due to Spain having no representatives from the country’s most successful team.

Rodri openly courted Madrid last season, saying in an interview whilst on international duty with Spain: “I’d like to return, yes, obviously. For me, LaLiga is where I started. I still follow it, it’s true not as much as before, but I still follow it.

“They (Real) have a fanbase that really goes all out for them, and for me, the Bernabeu is always incredible, a stadium that’s very imposing.

“Right now, I’m free, well, obviously I have a year left on my contract, obviously there will be a point where we’ll have to sit down and talk, have a conversation.”

If Rodri did go to Real Madrid, what would he bring to the biggest club in world football? If he could stay fit – which was obviously an issue for him last season – he would be the starting holding midfielder. When looking back on some key defeats from Madrid’s poor campaign last season, he could have made a huge difference. Rodri could have brought stability and control to that midfield, and possibly prevented the onslaught Madrid suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Michael Olise in the Champions League.

In short, bringing a player such as Rodri to a club as dominant as Real Madrid would most likely bring great success. If he stays fit. Which remains a massive ‘if’.

So what’s more valuable to Manchester City: Rodri for one more potentially injury-disrupted season or £50m in the bank? We would be a lot more certain of the answer if Pep Guardiola was still in charge.