Manchester City midfielder Rodri may have opened the door to a move to Real Madrid in the near future, yet multiple reports from England and Spain suggest that the capital club aren’t as keen as the player on a potential switch.
After initially skirting around the topic, Rodri turned heads by making it abundantly clear that he wanted to return to La Liga and would be very happy to shed his Atlético Madrid ties in order to play for Real Madrid.
“You can’t turn down one of the world’s best clubs,” he bluntly admitted this week.
“It doesn’t matter if they arrive at the match in a good or bad moment, Real Madrid is always Real Madrid. The door is not closed.” At least from Rodri’s side, the door is not closed. But Madrid don’t appear to be in a rush to swing it fully open.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner “does not feature in the club’s future plans” according to Spanish sports daily AS. The English outlet The Times also claims that interest in Rodri has “cooled” at the Bernabéu.
Madrid are crying out for some midfield reinforcements this summer and seemingly have one of the world’s best central operators publicly offering a come-and-get-me plea. So why are Los Blancos reluctant to answer the call?
Why Real Madrid ‘Have Concerns’ About Rodri
Real Madrid’s reticence, according to The Times at least, appears to revolve around Rodri’s inability to stay fit. The Spaniard was Manchester City’s marathon man before he was cruelly struck down with an ACL tear in September 2024. Having been a near ever-present for Pep Guardiola, Rodri has since struggled with various muscular issues since returning from an eight-month layoff.
The European champion has enjoyed a clean bill of health in 2026 so far, starting nine consecutive Premier League matches and last weekend’s triumphant Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.
However, “concerns” in Madrid are thought to remain, while there is also talk of a drive to target younger players with more future market value than someone who will be 30 at the start of next season.
Rodri’s Injury Record Before and After ACL Tear
|
Statistic (at Man City) |
Before ACL Tear |
After ACL Tear |
|---|---|---|
|
Days Missed Through Injury |
64 |
107 |
|
% Days Missed |
3.4% |
34% |
|
Games Missed Through Injury |
7 |
21 |
|
% Games Missed |
2.3% |
38% |
There’s little doubt that Rodri is “highly respected” by Real Madrid’s players or upper management, per AS.
The feud with Vinicius Junior regarding that Ballon d’Or snub two years ago has been consigned to ancient history. Both players shared an embrace after City and Madrid clashed in the Champions League, while Rodri once again downplayed what little hostility had ever existed in the same interview he made his transfer plea.
However that admiration “doesn’t go far enough” to convince Madrid to pursue Rodri ahead of other targets. AS specify that the club are looking for a “centrocampista,” the all-encompassing term for a midfielder who not only sits in front of the defense (like Rodri) but can perhaps impact the game in other stages.
Who Can Real Madrid Target Instead of Rodri?
When Jorge Valdano was sporting director of Real Madrid, the former World Cup winner once told the club’s demanding president, Florentino Pérez, that three in five transfers are failures. Midfield appears to be a particularly hit-and-miss area for Madrid.
The quest to replace Toni Kroos is approaching its third summer without success. If a player of Rodri’s caliber can be overlooked, then Madrid have left themselves with a shallow pool of superior candidates.
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández is a figure who, much like Rodri, has done little to downplay some fanciful links to the Bernabéu. The World Cup winner is younger and more inherently attacking compared to a possession-centric midfielder in the mould of Kroos or Luka Modrić.
If Fernández were to join Madrid’s current roster, it would bring to mind the line Frank Lampard used to describe Chelsea’s squad back in 2023, damning Fernández with the faint praise of: “He is the most natural six out of a midfield which doesn’t have so many natural sixes.”
Fellow Premier League star Dominik Szoboszlai is another player tenuously linked to the Spanish capital who doesn’t quite fit the necessary profile. Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimarães would be a more natural fit for the two-way role at the base of midfield.
Outside England’s top flight, Stuttgart’s unfussy midfield ballast Angelo Stiller would represent a deviation from the Galáctico recruitment model in an unglamorous area of the pitch.
The issue for Madrid, regardless of their preferred target, is the competition they will face over the summer. All of Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United are thought to be in the market for midfield reinforcements, while any players who show a whisper of promise at the World Cup will have their valuation artificially inflated.
By the time next season rolls around, Rodri may not look like such a bad option after all.
