Manchester City’s star midfielder Rodrigo Hernández is being closely monitored for a summer transfer by Spanish club Barcelona who is reportedly willing to pay £80m for the player.
Rodri joined the blue side of Manchester in 2019. Since then, he has racked up 185 appearances for the club with 15 goals and 14 assists. He played a pivotal role in winning their two Premier League titles, two League Cups, and a FA Community Shield. Pep Guardiola certainly values Rodri as a pivotal team player.
However, Rodri seems to want to go back home to Spain away from the harshness of Manchester. The sunny beauty of Barcelona is said to be the best move for him.
Football Insider has revealed that the Catalan club is ready to raise a huge fee of £80m for the Spanish midfielder. Manager Xavi Hernandez is said to admire the player and believes he could be key to La Liga dominance. Captain Sergio Busquets is expected to leave Barcelona this summer even though a contract extension is being discussed. Rodri is believed to be the man who could step up to be Busquet’s replacement for the club’s defensive midfield position.
Xavi even talked about Rodri in an interview with Marca in December 2018 when the player joined Atletico then, “He’s a superb player, and he would be even better in a style like Barcelona’s, he has both things, he is so good that he can play for Atletico, taking the ball, pressing, and closing down spaces. He has the Barcelona profile, I see him as top class, like Busi [Sergio Busquets]. He lifts his head up. Uff, he’s great. I think Barcelona should have signed him.”
Xavi Hernandez: “Rodri Henrandez has the Barcelona profile, I see him as top class, like Busi [Sergio Busquets]. He lifts his heads up. Uff, he’s great. I think Barcelona should have signed him.” [marca] pic.twitter.com/Ox3zJakoZR
— El Máestro (@ElMaestrofcb) December 23, 2018
Rodri has a contract until June 2027 and has been the player with the most minutes this season under Pep Guardiola, making a transfer unlikely. Barcelona thinks a fee of £80m could however change their mind. Pep is also known for letting players who don’t want to stay leave the club, selling Ferran Torres to Barcelona the previous year.
It is unclear how Barcelona could raise that fee considering their looming financial crisis. They may have to sell big names to fund the transfer with Frenkie De Jong and Ansu Fati among those expected to leave for a huge fee.
Barca was also rumored to buy Ilkay Gundogan for the same fee in the summer although the rumor went cold after both Gavi and Pedri stepped up on the pitch. If Rodri indeed leaves City, then it is said the English club will try to snatch England international Declan Rice as his replacement. A fee of £100m-120m could be enough to convince West Ham to let go of the player who has refused to sign a contract extension there. The money from Rodri’s sale could be used to fund the transfer though money is not really an issue for the state owned club.
The upcoming summer could therefore see a lot of big money transfers as has been the trend in the preceding years.
