Rodri has made his position clear to those around him: he wants to leave Manchester City for Real Madrid this summer, and according to ONE, citing Italian transfer journalist Matteo Moretto, he has already agreed personal terms with the Spanish club on a contract running to 2030.
The report describes a player who has made no special demands of Madrid, accepting the salary and conditions on offer, with a single aim in mind: returning home and pulling on the white shirt before the transfer window closes.
The interest is not new, but it has hardened dramatically since Rodri's performances for Spain at the 2026 World Cup. He captained La Roja to the title, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final, and was named winner of the Golden Ball as the tournament's outstanding player — an award that comes on top of the Ballon d'Or he won in 2024.
That form is said to have shifted the thinking of Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, who had previously been reluctant to move for the 30-year-old given his age and Manchester City's known reluctance to sell a player so central to Pep Guardiola's team.
The football case for Rodri fits a gap Madrid have carried since Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić left the club: a genuine controlling midfielder able to dictate tempo, shield the back line and bring the game-management the club has missed in Europe's biggest matches.
Where the deal stalls is money. ONE's figure for what would satisfy City sits at around €45 million. Other reporting this week, including from Yahoo Sports and FootballTransfers, suggests Madrid have effectively capped their offer near €50 million while City's valuation has been pitched far higher, with figures as steep as £84 million to £100 million floated in the English press.
That gap matters because Manchester City are not desperate sellers. Rodri is contracted until June 2027, and the club have already tabled a new long-term extension that he has so far neither accepted nor rejected, according to multiple outlets tracking the situation.
As things stand, there has been no formal club-to-club negotiation between Madrid and City over a fee, only interest from Madrid's side and swirling reports of Rodri's own preference. Real Madrid are said to want to push things along quickly, wary that other clubs could enter the picture the longer the situation drags.
For now, the story is exactly what ONE's headline suggests: the player's will to go is there, but the road to actually getting the deal done — persuading Manchester City to sell one of their most important midfielders for a fee they consider fair — is still a long one.
