Barcelona's Serious Bid for Rodri Amid City’s Interest in Enzo Fernández
Barcelona have come back to the table for Rodri – and this time they are serious.
The Spanish champions have submitted an improved offer of around €60m (£51m) to Manchester City for the midfielder, a significant jump from the initial €45m bid that was dismissed immediately by the Premier League club. The new figure is understood to sit much nearer to City’s own valuation of the 30-year-old, who captained Spain to World Cup glory and lifted the Ballon d’Or in 2024.
Rodri has made clear he wants Barcelona. With the player’s stance firm and the numbers now edging into acceptable territory, the sense inside the deal is that his departure from the Etihad is moving from possibility towards inevitability.
City turn to Enzo Fernández
City, never a club to wait for events to overtake them, have already identified Enzo Fernández as a potential successor at the heart of their midfield. The Chelsea captain will not come cheap. Chelsea value the Argentina international at around £120m, a price that City view as steep and which is likely to force negotiations into the territory of structured deals and add-ons.
Enzo Maresca is pushing. The City manager knows Fernández well from their season-and-a-half together at Chelsea before Maresca’s tenure at Stamford Bridge ended in January. That familiarity matters. So does the midfielder’s track record.
Fernández, 25, was a central figure in the Chelsea side that finished fourth in the Premier League and claimed the Europa Conference League in 2024-25, adding the Fifa Club World Cup last summer. He arrives in any dressing room as a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022 and as a proven big-game performer.
Should City manage to prise him away from west London, the dominoes will keep falling. Another midfielder is expected to make way, with Tijjani Reijnders viewed as a possible departure to balance both the squad and the books.
Leadership for one, rebuild for another
Rodri’s determination to join Barcelona has forced City to confront the loss of one of their most influential figures. Fernández, Chelsea’s captain, would not only replace quality but also bring instant authority and presence to Maresca’s squad. His combative edge, front-foot tackling and willingness to drive play forward would give City’s midfield a different, more aggressive feel.
While City weigh up how far they are willing to go for Fernández, Chelsea are already sketching out their own contingency plan. The London club are thought to have asked about Bournemouth’s Alex Scott as a potential replacement if their captain heads north. Scott, younger and less proven, would represent a different type of project – but Chelsea’s recruitment model has rarely shied away from that.
Busy summer at the Etihad
All this comes in the middle of a hectic window for City. The champions have already spent heavily, bringing in Elliott Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m and moving close to a deal for Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi at around £85m. The scale of that outlay underlines why any move for Fernández will have to be carefully structured, especially with Rodri’s fee likely to fall short of Chelsea’s asking price.
There has also been movement in goal. On Wednesday, City confirmed the signing of Gerónimo Rulli on a two-year contract after James Trafford’s switch to Leeds. Rulli, 35, returns to a club he previously represented in 2016-17, this time as experienced cover and competition.
“My job now is to train hard, get to know the players and staff and do everything I can,” the Argentina goalkeeper said, setting a simple tone amid a summer of complex negotiations.
Rodri edging towards Barcelona. Fernández at the centre of a tug-of-war between Chelsea and City. A squad evolving quickly under Maresca. The shape of City’s next era in midfield is being drawn right now – and the next bid could decide where the balance of power settles.
