Rodri completes £65m Barcelona move from Man City
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- Rodri completed a £65m move to Barcelona on a four-year contract, returning to Spanish football for the first time since leaving Atletico Madrid for Manchester City in 2019.
- The 2024 Ballon d'Or winner made 298 appearances for City over seven seasons, winning 12 major honours including four Premier League titles, the 2023 Champions League, two FA Cups and three EFL Cups.
- Rodri was named player of the tournament as Spain won the World Cup for the second time this summer, after his final two City seasons were disrupted by injury.
- Barcelona paid roughly double their opening offer of £38.5m; Real Madrid had been best placed to sign him, but sources told BBC Sport the Spain captain gave Barcelona approval to open negotiations with City.
- Manchester City are in transition after Pep Guardiola stepped down as manager, with John Stones and Bernardo Silva departing when their contracts expired (Silva joined Real Madrid).
- City spent £116m on England midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest and are in advanced talks with Lille over teenage Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.
- Barcelona moved for Rodri partly due to Frenkie de Jong's long-term injury; manager Hansi Flick has admitted the squad still lacks an established striker after the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
Why it matters: Barcelona landed a Ballon d'Or-winning midfielder on a four-year deal while simultaneously denying rivals Real Madrid his signature. For Pep Guardiola's successor, Manchester City have now lost their midfield anchor, captain and Bernardo Silva in the same window, spending £116m on Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson as a post-Guardiola rebuild begins.
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