Manchester City midfield star Rodri has been flirting with a potential move to Real Madrid quite significantly in the last few weeks. It does look like the interest is mutual, with the club said to be preparing a huge push to sign the Spaniard in the summer.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Madrid have set aside €100 million in their budget to try to sign the Manchester City star this summer. The report says the original plan had been to move for both Rodri and Borussia Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck, but with the German centre-back now said to be close to renewing, the focus would shift much more heavily toward Rodri.
That alone tells you the level of importance being placed on him. Rodri is 29, under contract at City until 2027, and still coming back from a serious knee injury, so Madrid would not be contemplating a deal of this size unless they believed he could transform the structure of the team.
The interesting part is that the player himself appears to have left the door open. Rodri openly said that his Atletico Madrid past would not prevent him from playing for Real Madrid, adding that players have made that journey before and that you cannot turn down the best clubs in the world.
From a Madrid perspective, that matters almost as much as the money. The club can prepare a huge offer, but these operations only become realistic when the player is at least mentally open to the idea.
Madrid have desperately lacked a midfield controller since Toni Kroos left the club. While Rodri might not be the stylistic equivalent of the German maestro, he’ll be able to bring a lot of control to the Spanish club’s midfield and can control things from there.
It is quite obvious that Real Madrid and Rodri are going to be a partnership that could materialise in the future. Let’s wait and see how things play out.
