Manchester City will reject FC Barcelona’s first offer for Rodri after the player agreed personal terms with the Catalans according to Fabrizio Romano and various other outlets.
SPORT reported that the initial proposal is €45 million in fixed money plus a further €15 million in add-ons, which SER also explained.
Later on Friday morning, Romano provided an update saying that Barça is now in “official club to club talks” with City and is “very confident” of getting a deal done.
“Initial indications from Barça [is that it is] open to pay fee slightly over €45 million, Man City in direct talks indicating higher price,” the Italian added.
Yet the Catalan newspaper reported that the Mancunians will reject this proposal. City has firmly set its asking price at €65 million and Barça has been warned of this by the player’s entourage.
The club is working on a strategy to convince the Premier League giant of how it is best to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
Barça has set a limit of paying €50 million for Rodri and could go up to €60 million by adding variables. It’s a price that Sporting Director Deco and Co. believe to be fair for a 30-year-old who has just 11 months remaining on his contract, and City deserves credit for having never stood in the way of a player’s wishes to move on – something that dates back to the Pep Guardiola era.
FC Barcelona has to tread carefully
One thing that made talks between Real Madrid and City break down is the fact that the two parties couldn’t see eye to eye on a transfer fee, however.
Last weekend, this was reported as Madrid having offered €50 million while City held out for €75 million.
This now doesn’t appear to have been entirely accurate, as it has since emerged that the offer was a mere €40 million as explained by SPORT.
As a consequence, Rodri and his camp then thought Madrid wasn’t that interested in him after all. In swift succession, a telephone call from Hansi Flick on Thursday to Rodri then inspired him to give his ‘OK’ to a move to the Spotify Camp Nou.
Rodri’s agent has also confirmed that his client has his heart set on Catalonia. “Out of respect for Madrid, as they have been class, Rodri informed them that his decision is to join Barça,” Pablo Barquero told Spanish radio station El Larguero on Thursday night.
With personal terms already agreed then, all that’s left is for FC Barcelona to persuade City with its transfer package and not fumble this in a manner that would open the door to Real Madrid once more.