A four-season contract for the captain of the Spanish team. A payment of a maximum of 60 million fixed euros to Manchester City, which could reach 70 in variables for titles, for the winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2024, the second Spanish footballer to win said award after Luis Suárez Miramontes. And, above all, a piece that fits like a glove in Hansi Flick's Barça team. Now, the arrival of Rodri Hernández is almost upon us. This Sunday an agreement in principle was reached with Manchester City to certify the transfer.
As La Vanguardia learned, the latest offer presented by Barcelona contemplates a maximum of 60 million fixed euros and the rest conditional on variables that could raise the operation up to 70 million.
The negotiation has been long, although Barcelona has always conveyed optimism. The Barça club began formal talks with Manchester City a week ago with an offer of 45 million euros plus another 10 in variables and later presented a second proposal of 60 million between fixed and variables, which was also rejected. But the footballer already had an agreement with Barcelona and in a year he was free to leave for free. It was a matter of reaching an understanding.
This Sunday Rodri was in Manchester. He traveled on a regular flight on Thursday to join training. However, in the Community Shield final, which City lost 3-0 against Arsenal yesterday, he did not make the squad nor was he seen in the stands in Cardiff. In the run-up to the match, Enzo Maresca had already left the door open for his departure: "We can sell players and buy players, anything can happen. I just saw Rodri, I gave him a hug, he looks good, we'll see what happens," he said.
The departure of Ferran Torres to PSG for almost 50 million euros –48.8– generates 20 million in salary space and has helped close an operation that began to take shape 15 days ago, with the call from Rodri's agent to Deco to explore the matter.
Deco and Flick studied the operation. Frenkie de Jong's injury, if it is ultimately long-term, is also a card that is considered to facilitate his registration and one of the reasons why the signing has been promoted. But, above all, there is the captain's leadership, his seniority and the playing style of a footballer who has won, in addition to the World Cup, the European Championship with Spain in 2024 and the treble with Manchester City, including the Champions League, with his goal in the final in Istanbul in the 2022-23 season.
After his performance from less to more in the World Cup, there are also no doubts about his recovery from the anterior cruciate ligament injury and the damage to the meniscus in his right knee suffered in September 2024, which kept him off the playing fields for much of the season. Deco, Barcelona's sporting director, has always declared himself an admirer of Rodri's football, whom he compared to Sergio Busquets. He accepted the agents' interest, but with conditions. The sports director was also aware of Real Madrid's interest in the player. For this reason, he made it clear that he was not going to enter into a bid with the white club and that, if Rodri preferred Barcelona, he had to make it known.
Hence the player's call to the Real Madrid sports leadership, including a conversation with Florentino Pérez to thank him for the interest and the offer, but making his priorities clear: wear the shirt of a club whose football style is more recognizable to him, as it is similar to that of Manchester City, and be part of a squad that has, in addition to him, seven world champions and Fermín López, absent from the World Cup due to injury, whom he knows as well as the game model.
His landing is a blow to Barcelona's table. Also for Florentino Pérez, who had agreed to the signing, although he never seemed like a footballer to his liking, and even less so after becoming one of the electoral assets of Enrique Riquelme's candidacy in the last presidential elections.
The midfielder, world champion with the Spanish team and best player in the World Cup, is eagerly awaiting him in Barcelona this week so that he can pass the medical examination and sign his contract until 2031.
