Barcelona's pursuit of Rodri is gathering real momentum. The transfer from Manchester City is coming closer as Barcelona are offloading a number of stars to generate the cash and space for one of the best.
The club have already submitted a second offer for the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner, though the Premier League club remain publicly unmoved, with Enzo Maresca insisting Rodri will be back in Manchester this week. City are holding out for €60+ million, and Hansi Flick reportedly wants the deal wrapped up in time to integrate Rodri next week, a tight timeline that shows just how badly this is needed.
A World Cup winner, four-time Premier League champion and Champions League winner walking into the Camp Nou midfield would be a turning point in the club’s transfer activity after regularly targeting attacking players. Although this is not a forward or a goal threat, this transfer will allow the attackers to be free and flourish.
Despite the optimism, not everyone at Barcelona would celebrate equally. Some careers would be turbo-charged by his arrival. Others would be quietly, perhaps permanently, altered. Here's who wins, and who loses, if Rodri completes his move.
Winner - Barcelona's defence
Barcelona's high defensive line has been both their greatest attacking weapon and their most obvious vulnerability, repeatedly exposed by quick transitions and balls played in behind.
Rodri is arguably the finest protector of a high line in world football, reading danger before it develops and snuffing out counter-attacks with positioning rather than desperate recovery runs. His signing would hand Flick's defence an insurance policy it has badly lacked.
Centre-backs would find themselves committing higher up the pitch with far greater confidence, knowing Rodri sits directly in front of them and sweeping up the attacks. Fewer transition goals conceded, fewer nervy sprints back, the defensive unit as a whole becomes considerably harder to break.
You saw the impact he had at the World Cup and European Championships.
Loser - Frenkie de Jong
De Jong's long-term standing at Barcelona would take the biggest hit. Rodri’s arrival could push him further down the pecking order, reducing him to a deputy role. With Pedri moving into a more advanced position, De Jong could increasingly be viewed as cover rather than an automatic starter.
His versatility and new injury problems risks becoming a description of a squad player rather than a first-choice midfielder, filling in when Pedri or Rodri are unavailable, rather than starting alongside them.
Winner - Marc Bernal
Few young midfielders in Europe would benefit more from Rodri's arrival than Marc Bernal. Barcelona have long viewed the teenager as a long-term successor in the pivot, and there is no better tutor available (if Sergio Busquets is not going down the coaching route) than the man widely regarded as the best defensive midfielder on the planet.
Rather than being blocked by Rodri's signing, Bernal stands to gain an in-house mentor at the exact stage of his career when guidance matters most, setting him up to eventually inherit the role Rodri would occupy.
Loser - Marc Casado
Casado has impressed in Barcelona’s midfield, but has lacked that next step to really make a first-team slot his own. There is little room for both in Flick’s first-choice XI, leaving Casado facing a move to Saudi Arabia as Barcelona cash him in to make this transfer happen.
Winner - Pedri
Pedri has often been asked to do everything for Barcelona, from tracking back to recycling possession, a potential contributing factor for his injury problems. Rodri’s arrival could free him to move into a more advanced role, where his vision and late runs can thrive, focusing on his output. Instead of being a deep-lying orchestrator by necessity, Pedri could become an attacking creator by design.
Loser - Real Madrid
Losing out on Rodri would sting Real Madrid on two fronts. Firstly, they miss the chance to add one of the world's best midfielders to their own ranks and provide that balance to their Galatico midfield. Secondly, and more painfully, they'd be watching their fiercest rivals get stronger, accumulate the points to win La Liga against (potentially).
A Barcelona midfield built around Rodri becomes significantly harder to break down and outplay, tilting the balance of El Clásico battles further in Barça's favour.
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