City laughed at Barça’s bid. Good relations were not enough

Barcelona approached Manchester City with an offer of €45 million plus another €5 million in bonuses for Rodri. City want between €75 million and €80 million, so negotiations began in traditional Barça fashion: with a proposal the other side did not even consider serious. The excellent relationship between the clubs survived. The credibility of the bid, perhaps less so.

Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail reports that Barcelona’s opening offer was rejected and laughed off. Ben Jacobs of talkSPORT says City want around €75 million, while David Ornstein of The Athletic puts the asking price closer to €80 million. Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the rejection of the €45m-plus-€5m package and says Barça will return with an improved proposal. The sources mainly disagree on exactly how far short Barcelona are.

Barça’s strongest argument remains Rodri himself. The 30-year-old has reportedly agreed personal terms, informed City of his wish to leave and previously rejected Real Madrid. Barcelona have therefore convinced the player and embarrassed their biggest rivals. Now they must convince the club that actually owns him.

There is no panic in Barcelona, only complete optimism. They have an excellent relationship with City, Rodri’s approval and direct talks between the clubs. All they are missing is roughly €30 million. In other words, everything is going according to plan — apart from the transfer fee.