According to Cadena SER, the 22-year-old is currently the leading candidate to leave Barcelona. He has significant proposals from Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli on the table, with other clubs also showing interest. Casadó intends to consider all the available offers before making a final decision on his future.

Nothing has been agreed yet. That distinction matters because Casadó has previously been consistent about his desire to remain at Barcelona and fight for his place. Only a few months ago, sources close to the player indicated that he was not considering leaving the club.

Rodri’s arrival changes the situation. The Spain international is expected to sign a contract until 2030 and immediately become one of Hansi Flick’s key midfielders. It leaves Casadó facing even greater competition after his role had already declined compared with his breakthrough campaign under the German coach.

The academy graduate made 34 official appearances during the 2025/26 season but played only 1,396 minutes. He remained useful without being a central figure. Barcelona’s own profile describes him as a hard-working and intense midfielder who provides balance to the team. The club may now decide that financial balance is even more useful.

Casadó is under contract until 30 June 2028, meaning Barcelona are under no obligation to accept a low offer. Cadena SER did not reveal the value of the current Saudi proposals. Earlier reports suggested that interest from the Saudi Pro League could eventually produce an offer worth around €40 million.

Selling an academy player would generate a major accounting profit, create room in the squad and help finance Barcelona’s expensive rebuild. It makes perfect sense from the board’s perspective. It fits rather less comfortably with the story of an academy graduate whose patience and hard work were supposed to earn him a future at the club.

Rodri may therefore cost Barcelona more than €60 million plus bonuses. His arrival could also cost a place to a player who has represented the club since he was 13. La Masia remains the heart of Barcelona – particularly when that heart can be sold for the right price.

Sources: Cadena SER, FC Barcelona – Casadó statistics, FC Barcelona – contract until 2028, Mundo Deportivo

The transfer itself is not new. Reports earlier this week stated that Almería were negotiating a deal worth around €2–3 million, with Barcelona expected to retain roughly 50–60% of the goalkeeper’s rights. Yaakobishvili had the option of staying around the first team, but decided to leave in search of regular football.

It is difficult to blame him. After years in Barça’s academy and a loan spell at Andorra, the 20-year-old appears to have decided that actually playing football is slightly more useful for his development than being another goalkeeper waiting for an opportunity. Barcelona, meanwhile, will collect another few million and keep a sizeable stake in his future.

For now, the message is pretty clear: Yaakobishvili has already stepped away from the team’s preparations while the deal is being completed. Another La Masia prospect heads elsewhere for minutes, while Barça keeps the receipt — and a percentage.

It is a notable positional change. Tunkara has mainly operated as an attacking midfielder or on the right for Juvenil A, but Flick is now testing whether his qualities can translate into a central attacking role. The German had already praised him during Barcelona’s training camp in England. 

The timing is not accidental. Robert Lewandowski has left, Ferran Torres could still move to PSG and Barça are looking for a striker. Flick recently admitted that spending the season without a natural No. 9 is not his preferred solution. While the club searches the market, though, he is also checking whether part of the answer has been training at La Masia all along. 

Fort returned this summer after his loan spell at Elche, but competition for minutes under Hansi Flick is increasingly difficult. Dortmund are not the only club watching the situation, with Liverpool, Everton, Fulham and Inter also linked with the right-back. 

La Masia remains a central part of Barcelona’s public identity. This summer, however, some of its graduates are also becoming useful assets when the first-team squad needs space and the club needs money. Dortmund’s next move will show how seriously Barça are prepared to consider selling Fort.

Barcelona will retain 50% of any future sale. That is a significant change from the original plan, which was to send the 19-year-old left-back out on loan, give him regular senior football and bring him back later. 

So Barça are letting the player go, but not entirely letting go of the possibility that he becomes much more valuable elsewhere. If Ajax develop him successfully, Barcelona will still be waiting for their half of the next deal. 

Cortés, however, has concrete offers from clubs in La Liga, the Premier League, Serie A and elsewhere in Europe. His preference is to stay and fight for his place, with the coming week expected to bring clarity.

Araújo’s departure should have presented Barça with a simple solution from within. Instead, the club is still weighing up the future of the player best placed to fill the gap. The faith in youth remains — terms and conditions apply.

The 21-year-old Barça Atlètic captain has impressed Flick during pre-season in Barcelona and at St George’s Park. He also completed 95 per cent of his passes on his senior debut against Alavés. Barça considered looking for an experienced, preferably left-footed defender, with Cristian Romero and Aymeric Laporte among the names discussed. Neither deal looks straightforward.

Backing Cortés is not the problem. The timing is. Barcelona’s faith in the academy always seems to become strongest when an outside replacement is too expensive or difficult to sign. La Masia is once again being asked to develop talent and provide emergency cover for a plan the club did not finish before showing a captain the exit.

According to Ferran Martínez of Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona rejected the Saudi club’s opening bid and want more than €30 million. Ideally, they would like the final price to move closer to €40 million, but Al-Hilal are currently unwilling to meet those demands. Their talks with the player, however, are already at an advanced stage.

The 22-year-old midfielder has also attracted interest from clubs in the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A, although no formal European bids have arrived. Al-Hilal therefore remain the only serious buyer, while Casadó waits for the two clubs to decide exactly how much loyalty to the badge is worth.

With Rodri valued at around €70 million, selling one academy graduate could finance more than half of Barcelona’s next grand project. La Masia remains the heart of the club. Increasingly, it also serves as its emergency wallet.

There is plenty to copy. AS estimates that Real could generate close to €200 million this summer from players connected to La Fábrica. The sales of Gonzalo García and César Palacios alone reportedly brought in around €50 million, while Madrid retained a 30% stake in both players. They sell the talent, collect the money and keep waiting for another payment. Unsurprisingly, Barcelona seem particularly interested in this part of the model.

Barça plan to sell more academy graduates with buy-back clauses or future sell-on percentages. This would provide immediate income, improve their Financial Fair Play position and allow them to bring a player back if he develops elsewhere. Assuming, of course, that they can eventually afford to repurchase their own graduate.

La Masia will therefore remain the future of Barcelona. That future will simply play for another club first, help balance the books and perhaps return one day. Barça spent years explaining how different they were from Real Madrid. In the end, they decided it would be easier to copy them.

Bernal made 33 appearances last season, scored five goals and helped Barcelona win La Liga. Hansi Flick considers him an important part of the club’s future, while Barça insist that replacing his potential on the transfer market would be extremely difficult. Villa still intend to make their move and test how well those declarations withstand a £30 million bid.

There is currently no indication that Barcelona want to sell their academy graduate. At Barça, however, “untouchable” is often a temporary club status rather than a legal definition. La Masia may once again be described as the heart of the project — at least until someone puts a serious price on that heart.