Manchester City have begun making inquiries over Marc Bernal, the Barcelona midfielder being talked up as a long-term replacement for Rodri, according to a report by ONE.
The 19-year-old, who has emerged as a fixture in Hansi Flick's plans after a long recovery from a serious ACL injury, is understood to have caught City's eye as the club maps out its midfield rebuild amid uncertainty over Rodri's future in Manchester.
ONE reports City are the first of several interested Premier League clubs to move beyond mere monitoring and sound out an approach, with Arsenal and Chelsea also said to be tracking Bernal's progress. Atlético Madrid have been mentioned as admirers domestically.
Any deal, however, faces a formidable obstacle: Bernal signed a contract extension with Barcelona through 2029 carrying a release clause reported at €500 million, giving the Catalan club total control over his future. Barcelona have shown no inclination to negotiate a sale.
Bernal has previously made his own position clear, telling reporters he sees Barcelona as his home and has rejected interest from Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in the past, per Yahoo Sports.
Flick is said to hold enormous confidence in the teenager, viewing his development as one of his biggest successes since arriving at Camp Nou, and considers a departure highly unlikely in the near term.
The Spaniard's rise has drawn comparisons to Sergio Busquets, the Barcelona icon whose retirement left a void in the club's midfield identity. At 6ft 4in, Bernal shares Busquets' physical stature and reputation as a reader of the game who rarely gives the ball away.
Pep Guardiola, whose own City side is searching for Rodri's eventual successor, has previously described Bernal as 'extraordinary' after facing him in a pre-season friendly, a compliment that has only sharpened English interest in the youngster.
ONE adds that Bernal's salary remains modest relative to his standing in Flick's first team, and that Barcelona intends to bring forward contract-upgrade talks originally pencilled in for September, partly in response to the growing external interest.
Bernal was also included in Spain coach Luis de la Fuente's expanded World Cup squad and has featured in preparation fixtures, underlining how far his stock has risen since the injury that sidelined him for the best part of a year.
For now the story remains speculative: City have made contact rather than a formal bid, and with a nine-figure release clause and a player publicly committed to Barcelona, any move would likely take years rather than one transfer window to materialise.
