Rodri Gets Even More Expensive. Barça Prepare €70m Move

Manchester City have rejected Barcelona again, so the negotiations have reached that familiar stage where one side simply adds more money. According to Nil Solà on El Larguero, Barça’s offer of around €60 million was turned down and the club are now considering a package worth up to €70m.

Cadena SER reports that the next proposal could be structured as €60m guaranteed plus another €10m in add-ons. City are not expected to lock Rodri inside the Etihad if he wants to leave, but they still want a fee much closer to their valuation. The door is open, then — Barcelona are just discovering that the entrance fee is rather higher than expected.

There is already plenty of optimism in Catalonia. Barça reportedly believe Rodri could arrive in Barcelona as early as Monday, although the midfielder is still due back in Manchester on Friday to resume training with City. A perfectly normal return to work, apart from the small possibility that he could be employed in another country three days later.

Barcelona started much lower, have now been rejected twice and are already moving towards €70m. Manchester City’s negotiation strategy appears beautifully simple: keep saying no until Barça discovers the real price.