Barcelona to complete Rodri move after Man City agree fee

Manchester City will say goodbye to Rodri in the coming days after agreeing a deal with Barcelona that they are happy with

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Simon Bajkowski Chief Manchester City Writer

20:30, 16 Aug 2026

[Rodri is on his way out of City]

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Rodri is on his way out of City

Rodri will complete a move to Barcelona after the Catalan giants agreed a fee with Manchester City. Having rejected two bids, the Blues have accepted a total package that will reach 65.4m for their star midfielder.

City had hoped that Rodri would sign a new contract at the Etihad but with his deal entering the final year it became clear that the Ballon d'Or winner would not commit. With Barcelona looking to sign him in the last two weeks, City set a benchmark of over 60m and that has been met.

It brings to an end seven glorious years for Rodri with City, where he established himself as the best player in world football before a serious knee issue in September 2024 cost him the best part of two years to injury. He returned in May 2025 and played a substantial part in City winning two trophies last season, but did not rediscover his best form until he captained Spain to World Cup glory in the summer.

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The 30-year-old returned to the City Football Academy on Friday with no agreement between Barcelona and the Blues. However, he was absent from the squad that travelled down to the Community Shield for Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Arsenal; while he is not fully fit, last year the Spaniard was present for matches while injured in order to support the team.

City are intent on replacing Rodri and a substantial fee will help them, and a deal for Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi is advancing, but that is understood to be separate from another deal for Rodri; interest in Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez persists despite the deadline imposed by the West London club that was not met. However, boss Enzo Maresca highlighted that time is against the club with just a few weeks of the window left.

"Any new signing, the sooner they arrive the better because we are starting the Premier League in one week and if they start to work with us as soon as possible it's better that they can also understand the way we want to play," said Maresca.

"We knew already before the game of the things that we need to do. It's not because we lost the game or even if we had won the game to think differently. We are quite clear in what we need to do and for sure we are going to do something before the window closes."

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