Man City respond to Barcelona's Rodri bid: 'Not serious'

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Manchester City have bluntly dismissed Barcelona's opening offer for Rodri.

The Spain superstar's future has taken another major twist this week after the reigning LaLiga champions decided to strongly enter the race for his signature. Barcelona made their move for Rodri and successfully convinced him to snub Real Madrid.

The 30-year-old was initially keen to return to his hometown of Madrid, but Barcelona made a convincing pitch. Not only does their playing style suit him better, but they also boast several of his La Roja teammates. Spain's World Cup squad famously did not contain any Real Madrid players.

Current ETV

Rodri

DM, M (C)

Man City

Rodri

DM, M (C)

Man City

€59.2M

ETV Range

€53.3M - €65.1M

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Rodri is now pushing for a move to Catalunya, and there is believed to be confidence at Barcelona that they will be able to agree a deal with Man City. However, the Premier League giants still have other ideas.

They previously made it clear to Real Madrid that they do not wish to sell the midfielder despite the fact that he only has a year left on his contract and so far has shown no willingness to extend. Barcelona have received the same unambiguous message.

Man City reject Barcelona bid

The situation could change if Rodri formally requests to leave the club, which seemingly has not happened to date, although it has been clear for some time that he is desperate to return to Spain.

As has been widely reported on Friday, Barcelona have made an opening offer for the 30-year-old, but this has been rebuffed by Man City. According to The Athletic, the bid clocked in at around €45 million.

It is understood that this is nowhere near Man City's valuation of the player, and Barcelona know that, too. David Ornstein reports that the Cityzens did not even take the offer seriously.

"The Premier League side insist no meaningful club-to-club talks are currently taking place, as a bid they consider serious has yet to be made," the journalist writes.

And indeed it may be a PR ploy by Barcelona to increase the pressure on Man City - and to potentially get Rodri to hand in a transfer request. They don't wish to show their hand too early because they don't want to overspend on the veteran.

Reports in Spain have suggested that Barcelona could be prepared to ultimately pay up to €60m for Rodri, but it is only natural that they would want to start negotiations at a lower figure.

According to Ornstein, City have made it clear that they want close to €80m to sell the 30-year-old. If need be, they are prepared to let Rodri run down his contract, even if that would not be an ideal scenario.

It remains to be seen if Barcelona will return with a fresh offer, but we surely haven't heard the last of this.