The departure of Pep Guardiola — along with veterans Bernardo Silva and John Stones — has given Manchester City the opportunity for a significant reset. And it’s looking increasingly likely that a Rodri sale will be part of that.
Barcelona and City are now in active negotiations for Rodri, though they’re quite far apart on their valuation at the moment. City rejected a bid of €45m, and reportedly want €75m. This sounds like fairly normal negotiation posturing to me, and I would not be surprised to see a deal get done for a number somewhere in the middle.
Rodri, understandably, did not have his best season at age 29 after recovering from a torn ACL, suffering a couple of setbacks that limited his minutes significantly. But he was still very good from January until April, looking very much like an above average midfielder, even if he didn’t look like a Ballon d’Or winner.
But Rodri’s sensational play for Spain at the World Cup has the big Spanish teams interested in paying a large fee to acquire him now, rather than hoping they can get him cheap this summer, or wait to sign him on a free transfer next year.
Beyond wanting to get the star of the World Cup winners into their squad, Barcelona have been pushed into action by an injury to Frenkie de Jong, who might require surgery on his MCL. After years of refusing to leave the club despite incessant begging and slander from the media, de Jong regained top form under Hansi Flick, leading to a contract extension. He then promptly suffered an injury that necessitates signing another expensive player and makes de Jong’s contract a possible ball and chain once again.
All of this is a nice little bonus for City, who obviously are not hurting for cash, but wouldn’t mind a little extra wiggle room in the Squad Cost Ratio rules to sign another high-cost player or two. One such player is Ayyoub Bouaddi, who has been linked to City for a while now. The Lille youngster is expected to wrap up his transfer soon, which could cost in excess of £80m.
It might be tough to view the sale of one of the world’s best players as a positive for City, but it makes sense to move on from Rodri this summer. The club is going through a pretty significant period of transition, and 30-year-olds coming off torn ACLs generally do not age well in the extremely physical Premier League. City will not be able to control and slow down games the same way Spain did at the World Cup, and I’m not sure it would be good strategy to do so even if they could, given that Erling Haaland is on the team.
This is a painful bit of business, but selling Rodri for a potential £50m+ payday instead of losing him on a free is a very good piece of business for City.
More transfer rumours
Vinicius Jr. has agreed to an extension with Real Madrid after two summers of posturing, and that means the Arsenal rumours are now a gigantic pot of absolute slop. The rags have raced to link Ferran Torres and Iliman Ndiaye to the Gunners as the alternatives, but there’s nothing out there from even occasionally reliable reporters. That makes me wonder if they’ll just run it back with…
Gabriel Martinelli, who’s being linked to Galatasaray. So is Rafael Leao, though that feels like an either-or situation for the Istanbul side. Related: is Leao the most Galatasaray-coded player to ever exist?
We mentioned earlier in the week that we’ve liked Fulham’s signings, and their rumoured midfield moves look good too. Sasa Lukic is heading to Ipswich, and Shea Charles is rumoured to be arriving from Southampton. Lukic is a good defensive midfielder, but Fulham have another one in Sander Berge, and could use some more ball progressing ability. Charles had a very good age 22 season in the Championship and looks like a well-rounded CM.
PSG and Liverpool are apparently actively engaged in talks about Bradley Barcola, not just leaking hints through media and agents. But the two sides are far apart on valuation, with the Parisians asking for €150m, and Liverpool not having that kind of budget. This feels like it’s going down to the wire ala Alexander Isak.
But PSG seem to be operating as if they expect to sell Barcola. They tried hard for Yan Diomande, who ultimately chose Real Madrid, and are now reportedly trying to sign Mika Godts from Ajax.
Last year, I called Franco Mastantuono an Erik Lamela regen who wasn’t quite good enough for Real Madrid, and a lot of people did not like that. He’s gone to Fiorentina on loan, so I’m feeling pretty good about the take.
Crystal Palace are in talks to sign wingback Zavier Gozo from Real Salt Lake, and he should fit into their shape nicely. The 19-year-old is such an attacking wingback that his fullback radar is wacky and his winger radar is normal, so we’ll show you that one. He’s a perfect Daniel Muñoz understudy/eventual replacement.
Aston Villa are in need of a left back, and Mateo Ruggeri from Atlético Madrid for £15m feels like great value. It’s also a little extra money for Atléti to complete the Cuti Romero transfer, which very much feels like it’s happening.
Chelsea have also patched their hole at left back with a signing from La Liga, picking up Pep Chavarria for pretty cheap. He’s fine. A squad player at squad player price.
Sunderland and apparently several other Premier League teams are battling it out for Sporting winger Geny Catamo, who’s going to cost somewhere in the range of £35m. I am forever skeptical of dribbling stats in the Portuguese league, where defending is optional, but there are only so many left-footers this dribbly out there in the world.
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