FC Barcelona have reached an agreement in principle with Manchester City to sign Spain midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez for a transfer fee of around 75 million euros.
The 30-year-old Spanish national team captain is set to sign a four-year contract with Barcelona after the Catalan club agreed to meet City's valuation following an initial rejected offer of 60 million euros. Part of the final package includes easily achievable performance variables for the midfielder, whose contract in Manchester had less than twelve months remaining before its scheduled expiration on June 30, 2027.
Both clubs and the player plan to make the transfer official early this week once all remaining details of the operation are finalized. The deal comes after Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick hinted at potential new arrivals following his side's 2-5 pre-season friendly victory against Swiss side Basel.
Speaking shortly before news of the deal emerged, Flick said that the team might still be lacking something, which would be evaluated during the week. The German manager explained that the most important factor was the squad's training performance, adding that hard work was necessary to maintain the team's level from previous seasons.
Transfer Negotiations And City Exit
Negotiations between the two clubs extended longer than anticipated because Manchester City insisted that 60 million euros fell short of the player's true market value. City ultimately agreed to grant Rodri his wish to return to La Liga in exchange for a fee exceeding 70 million euros for a player entering the final year of his contract.
Following his vacation after winning the World Cup with Spain, Rodri had sought to avoid joining up with City's pre-season preparations. However, he eventually travelled from Madrid to Manchester to report for duty under City's new Italian manager, Enzo Maresca.
Maresca did not select Rodri for the Community Shield, England's traditional season-opening match, where Manchester City suffered a 3-0 defeat against reigning Premier League champions Arsenal. The fixture was City's first official match since the departure of former manager Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori opened the scoring in less than a minute, before Kai Havertz doubled the lead with a close-range header that beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Martin Odegaard sealed the victory shortly after the halftime break.
In Rodri's absence, City fielded a midfield featuring 130 million euro summer signing Elliott Anderson, who produced a disappointing official debut, alongside Croatian international Mateo Kovacic, who has struggled to replicate his best form in recent months.
Replacement Targets And Squad Impact
With Rodri departing, Manchester City are now focused on accelerating negotiations to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, a Moroccan midfielder currently playing for French club Lille.
Barcelona will add Rodri to an already crowded midfield section, despite his position being well covered in Flick's squad. However, Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong returned from the World Cup with an injury and is set to miss several months of action at the start of the campaign.
Barcelona's main squad concern remains in attack, where they have lost forward options Robert Lewandowski, Marcus Rashford, and Ferran Torres, who was sold to Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona had targeted Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez to replace those lost goals, but the Spanish capital club have maintained that the Argentine international will not be allowed to leave at any price.
