Manchester City maintains its position in the negotiation for Rodri and has rejected the second offer presented by Barcelona, according to the British newspaper The Times. The Blaugrana club put on the table 60 million euros fixed plus five in variables, after their first proposal, of 45 million, also did not convince the English team. City considers that neither of the two amounts approaches their expectations and maintains their valuation around 80 million euros.
Read more Ferran Torres, to PSG for almost 50 million
The English club’s stance has not changed since contacts began. Barcelona knows that City is not willing to negotiate below that amount and must now decide whether to make a new effort to close the gap or wait for the situation to evolve with Rodri’s return to Manchester, which should take place tomorrow. The midfielder is clear that he wants to play for Barça and that willingness is one of the arguments the Blaugrana club uses to try to lower the price, but an agreement before he returns to training now seems impossible.
City prepares for Rodri’s absence
Despite these differences, City continues to prepare for a scenario without Rodri. The club has signed Elliot Anderson, for whom it has made a record investment close to 116 million pounds, and also has the arrival of Ayyoub Bouaddi, Lille midfielder, on track. In addition, Enzo Fernández appears as one of the options if they finally lose the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner. Chelsea values the Argentine at about 120 million pounds, and demands an offer from the Londoners before this Friday.
The arrival of Anderson does not change that for City the Spanish international remains one of the most important players in the squad, so they do not want to facilitate his departure. Also, given the high costs of the signings they intend to make, they need to gain financial fair play. All this means they need to sell Rodri for the highest possible price.
Barça must assess how much it is willing to raise its offer
At Barça they are aware that the negotiation will require patience. The ball is back in their court. With City inflexible at 80 million, the outcome will now depend on how much they are willing to raise their offer and whether the English team ends up accepting to negotiate conditions different from those they have set from the beginning.
Read more The INE raises the inflation rebound in July to 3.6% due to electricity and gasoline
