Real Madrid Close In on Rodri After Personal Terms Agreed, Leaving Manchester City Scrambling
Real Madrid have reached a full agreement on personal terms with Manchester City midfielder Rodri, according to journalist Matteo Moretto, moving the Spanish giants one step closer to landing the 2026 World Cup Golden Ball winner — and leaving City staring at the kind of hole in their lineup that no schematic adjustment fills.
The Athletic reported Thursday that Madrid are working on a deal and are confident an agreement can be reached, though club-to-club talks have not yet begun. Rodri, 30, has entered the final year of his City contract, which runs through 2027. He has shown little desire to sign an extension, and those close to him have long known that playing for Madrid was a career goal.
Rodri said as much himself in March. “Would I like to play in Spain again, in La Liga, in Madrid? I would like to return, yes, obviously,” he told reporters during an international break. “Having played for Atletico before would not prevent me from playing for Real Madrid. You can’t turn down one of the world’s best clubs.”
Madrid had spent months insisting Rodri was not in their plans. What changed was the World Cup. Rodri started and captained Spain across all eight matches as Luis de la Fuente’s side beat Argentina in the final, winning back-to-back major tournaments after the 2024 European Championship. That performance shifted the thinking of president Florentino Perez and head coach Jose Mourinho, who had previously not considered the signing.
TalkSport’s Ben Jacobs reported that City are bracing for a formal offer and that Rodri wants to leave for both football and family reasons. Madrid are reportedly prepared to leverage his contract situation to negotiate a fee in the range of €50-60 million — a fraction of his market value, but the price of leverage when a player has one year left.
For City, the timing is brutal. Pep Guardiola’s decade in Manchester has ended. Enzo Maresca is the new manager. John Stones and Bernardo Silva have already departed, with Silva moving to Madrid. Now the centerpiece of the midfield — the man Guardiola once called massively important because “without him, we could not do what we are doing” — wants out.
Maresca addressed the speculation at his first City press conference Friday. “Around big players there is always speculation. I’m not worried about that,” he said. “Every manager wants to have Rodri because he’s a top player. But now surgery on I think Monday. He needs holiday. He needs to rest. He needs to recover and then he will be back here with us.”
That back surgery adds a layer of risk Madrid are willing to absorb. Rodri tore his ACL in 2024, missed most of that season, and dealt with hamstring and groin issues during the 2025-26 campaign. He made 33 appearances across all competitions. The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana noted that Madrid are “not usually keen to invest large sums in players approaching 30,” and that the knee injury was followed by muscle problems — but the World Cup performance “dispelled many of the doubts.”
City have already moved to reinforce the position, signing Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116 million and pursuing 18-year-old Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille. Whether either can replace what Rodri brings is a question Maresca will have to answer on the training ground.
Rodri joined City from Atletico Madrid in 2019 for £62.6 million. In seven years he has won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three League Cups, and the 2023 Champions League — scoring the winning goal in that final. He has 298 appearances, 28 goals, and 32 assists. He won the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
The film doesn’t lie: Rodri is the engine that made City go. Now Madrid want to put him in their garage.