Barcelona have thrown themselves into the race for Rodri, just as his move to bitter rivals Real Madrid appeared to be all but agreed, according to a report from Catalan radio.
Journalist Oriol Domenech, broadcasting on Catalunya Radio, said the Spanish champions have opened contact to check on the Manchester City captain's situation, a late twist that arrives after weeks in which a Rodri switch to the Bernabéu had looked close to settled.
Barcelona's move is tied in part to their unease over Frenkie de Jong, who is managing a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee, picked up while playing for the Netherlands at the World Cup. De Jong has so far opted against immediate surgery, with his case due to be revisited in roughly three weeks and a lay-off of five to six months possible if an operation does become necessary.
"The club expects de Jong to return in good condition, but at Barcelona they assess that a top-level defensive midfielder is still missing," Domenech explained, adding that Barça have been making inquiries across the top tier of available midfielders, which is why it is "not surprising" they are now asking about Rodri specifically.
Rodri, 30, is under contract at City until the summer of 2027 and enters this saga at the peak of his standing in the game. He won the 2024 Ballon d'Or, then captained Spain to the World Cup title this month, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final and collecting the Golden Ball as the tournament's outstanding player.
Real Madrid, however, remain the club best placed to land him. Multiple reports out of Spain in recent days describe personal terms as effectively agreed between Rodri's camp and the Bernabéu, with Los Blancos having spent heavily this window as they push to build a midfield around him.
Manchester City are said to be holding out for a fee in the region of €80 million should a deal with Real Madrid go through, a figure that has not stopped Barcelona from testing the waters regardless of their weaker financial position this summer.
For now, Domenech's report amounts to an inquiry rather than a formal offer, but it is enough to unsettle a transfer saga that Madrid had largely expected to have wrapped up by this stage of the summer.
