Barcelona's Improved €60m Bid for Rodri Amid Transfer Saga
Barcelona have returned to the table with an improved offer of around €60m (£51m) for Rodri as the saga over the Manchester City midfielder’s future gathers pace.
City instantly dismissed Barça’s opening bid of €45m, but the new figure edges closer to the English champions’ valuation of the 30-year-old, who captained Spain to World Cup glory and lifted the Ballon d’Or in 2024. The gap is narrowing. So is the time.
Rodri has made clear he wants Barcelona. Inside both clubs, the feeling is that his departure now looks a matter of when, not if.
City line up Enzo Fernández – at a price
City, already planning for life after their midfield anchor, have turned their attention to Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández. He is high on their list. Chelsea’s price is even higher.
The west London club value the Argentina international at around £120m. That figure is daunting for any buyer, even one with City’s resources, so any agreement is likely to be heavily structured, with add-ons central to the negotiation.
Enzo Maresca is pushing. The City manager knows Fernández well after a season-and-a-half together at Chelsea before Maresca’s dismissal in January. Under him, the 25-year-old became a pillar of the side that finished fourth in the Premier League, won the Europa Conference League in 2024-25 and lifted the Fifa Club World Cup last summer.
That shared history matters. Maresca sees a player he trusts, a midfielder who can dictate and destroy, and a ready-made leader for a dressing room that could soon lose one of its most influential figures.
Midfield dominoes at the Etihad
If City manage to land Fernández, the knock-on effect could be immediate. With another big-name midfielder arriving, at least one is expected to make way.
Tijjani Reijnders is understood to be among those who could be sacrificed to balance both squad and books. His future would come under sharp scrutiny the moment Fernández walks through the door.
The logic is clear. Rodri wants Barcelona. City, unwilling to be left exposed in the middle of the pitch, want a successor who brings presence as well as pedigree. Fernández, now Chelsea captain and a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, ticks those boxes.
His combative edge, allied to his range of passing, would give Maresca a different kind of weapon in midfield – less metronomic than Rodri, but more confrontational, more aggressive in duels. For a City side that can sometimes be accused of control without bite, that profile carries obvious appeal.
Chelsea prepare for life after their captain
Chelsea, for their part, have not stood still. As City circle Fernández, the London club have sounded out Bournemouth over Alex Scott as a possible replacement should their captain leave.
Scott, one of the Premier League’s most highly regarded young midfielders, fits Chelsea’s recruitment model and would soften the blow of losing Fernández. Any move, though, hinges entirely on City turning their interest into a formal bid that matches Chelsea’s demands.
Until then, Chelsea hold their line. The price stays at £120m.
City’s wider rebuild gathers speed
While the Rodri and Fernández stories dominate, City’s summer business has already been significant.
They have paid £116m to bring in Elliott Anderson from Nottingham Forest, a statement fee for a player they believe can grow into a major attacking force. They are also close to completing a deal worth around £85m for Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, another sizeable investment in the next generation.
On Wednesday, City added experience at the other end of the pitch, announcing the signing of Gerónimo Rulli on a two-year contract after James Trafford’s move to Leeds. Rulli, 35, returns to a club he briefly called home in 2016-17 and arrives with a clear message.
“My job now is to train hard, get to know the players and staff and do everything I can,” the Argentina goalkeeper said.
City are reshaping quietly but decisively. If Barcelona finally meet their price for Rodri and Chelsea relent on Fernández, that reshaping could turn into a full-scale midfield revolution before the window closes.
