RODRI COMPLETES £65.4M MOVE FROM MAN CITY TO BARCELONA

Manchester City have accepted a bid of £65.4m from Barcelona for Rodri, with the 30-year-old set to complete his move to the Spanish club. Rodri had made clear his desire to return to Barcelona and was entering the final year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium. City initially rejected Barcelona's offers of €45m (£38.5m) and around €60m (£51m) before accepting the latest bid. Rodri has arrived in Barcelona ahead of the transfer being finalised.

Rodri spent seven seasons with City, winning the Premier League four times and scoring in the 2023 Champions League final victory over Inter. He won the Ballon d'Or the following year but suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of most of the 2024-25 campaign. Hamstring and groin problems also limited him to 33 appearances in Pep Guardiola's final season in charge. City manager Enzo Maresca called Rodri a "top player" after City's Community Shield defeat by Arsenal on Sunday, noting that "all the teams need Rodri".

City are closing in on a deal to sign Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi as a replacement, with the teenager having impressed at the World Cup. The club have already spent £116m on Elliot Anderson this summer and agreed a deal to sell Tijjani Reijnders to Al Qadsiah. Maresca is seeking to rebuild City's midfield options following the departures of Bernardo Silva and Rodri.