Barcelona are in pole position to sign Rodri from Manchester City — despite Real Madrid’s rival interest in the midfielder.

As The Athletic reported on Thursday, Rodri favours a move to the Camp Nou over any other side, with Barca set to negotiate with his Premier League club over a transfer.

Sources familiar with the situation — speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment — said City’s starting price will be in the region of €80million (£60.8m; $92.2m).

Rodri’s deal at the Etihad Stadium is due to run out at the end of next season and he has not shown a willingness to extend. If he joins Barca, the 30-year-old would likely become one of the team’s best earners.

Barca’s top transfer priority this summer has been to reinforce in attack. Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez was their main target following the departure of Robert Lewandowski, whose contract expired in June.

But now, so long as an agreement with City can be reached, they are about to strengthen in midfield instead. It is a move that raises questions.

Do Barca really need Rodri? What does it mean for their Alvarez interest? And can the Spanish champions afford it?

Why are we talking about Barcelona’s finances?

Because Barcelona have had problems in this regard for quite some time.

Since the infamous ‘summer of levers’ of 2022, when they sold multiple assets including significant shares of future TV revenue and used the money to finance immediate transfer spending, Barca have been out of line with the salary limit rules La Liga sets for its clubs.

That has led to multiple tense situations over Barca’s difficulties in registering new signings so they are eligible to play. Perhaps the most dramatic of these cases was that of Dani Olmo.

Signed in August 2024 in a deal worth €60million, Barca could not register him in time for the start of the season — because of restrictions on teams La Liga deems to be overspending.

An injury to Andreas Christensen presented a loophole to get around those rules, with Olmo coming in as his temporary replacement. But when that expired, an even bigger mess rose up in January 2025. La Liga again refused to register Olmo, but he and Barca ended up in the clear after an appeal to the Consejo Superior de Deportes (Higher Sports Council), a branch of the Spanish government.

Olmo, Eric Garcia and Gavi were among the eight Barca players in Spain’s World Cup squad (Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Concerns over Barca’s ability to register players date back further. When Jules Kounde signed in 2022, and when Ilkay Gundogan joined in 2023, clauses were inserted in their contracts that would have allowed them to leave on a free transfer if they could not be registered.

The subject of Barcelona’s finances is a highly complex one — and we will be returning to it in greater detail in future articles. The Athletic’s deep dive in November last year helps explain why they have struggled and the various creative solutions they have employed to continue financing new signings.

Now, after returning to the Camp Nou following almost two full seasons away, Barca sources insist they are in a much better place to spend this year.

Has La Liga said anything? How do its rules work?

The Spanish top flight’s salary limit is calculated individually for each club according to revenues, and it dictates how much teams are allowed to spend on wages. Clubs who overspend can see their ability to register new signings restricted.

La Liga does not comment publicly on the numbers of any particular club outside the updates it provides after each transfer window. But sources within the competition body do not dismiss Barcelona’s optimism.

There were also some telling comments from La Liga president Javier Tebas when he attended an event marking Joan Laporta’s official return last month, following his success in the club’s presidential election in March.

“You’ve gone through some tough years, but now the club is on a positive path,” said Tebas to Laporta. “Barca have nothing to envy towards any other club in the country.”

What’s the Barca view on Rodri finances?

Barca sources believe they will be allowed to operate within what is commonly known as the ‘1:1 rule’ this summer — meaning La Liga will allow them to use all the money they offload on salaries to register new players. Clubs deemed to be overspending are only allowed to reinvest a percentage back into recruitment.

Barcelona have not been in this position in a summer transfer window since 2022. There is expectation within the board that last season’s budget will exceed revenue projections, thanks to their return to the Camp Nou.

The departure of Lewandowski, who had a significant salary, also helps free up spending power.

Lewandowski, now with Chicago Fire in MLS, with another ex-Barca striker Luis Suarez of Inter Miami (Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images)

Beyond club sources saying they have received Rodri’s approval to negotiate with Manchester City, Barca have been working behind the scenes for some time to complete this deal. Their financial department was already made aware of the possibility, and started calculating how it would affect the wider picture. Rodri is expected to become one of Barca’s highest earners.

There is also an important point to make about how Barca expect their situation to change in the future.

Next summer, they will have to temporarily leave the Camp Nou again for a roof to be fitted. No timeframe has been confirmed, but the expectation is it will run into multiple months. The consequent drop in matchday revenue, plus the potential rent they’ll pay to play elsewhere (most likely the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys again), means their salary limit position will change.

Barca are also expected to require a bigger loan to complete the works at the Camp Nou. The club will need more money, as president Laporta has already confirmed.

All of this has pushed Barca into deciding to make an important effort this summer regarding new signings. They might not be in such a healthy position to register new arrivals in a year’s time.

Do Barcelona need to sell players? Who might move on?

Barca do expect players to leave.

From all the names that are doing the rounds as potential departures, Ferran Torres might be the one with the biggest salary to be offloaded. The 26-year-old’s contract expires in June, there is no agreement over an extension in sight and he reportedly has interest from Paris Saint-Germain.

Barca say Torres is not for sale, but that if the player asks them to leave the club, they will be open to listening to offers.

Then there are two players who have been notified they will have very limited roles with the team next season: Marc Casado and Roony Bardghji. Barca are hoping to offload both before the end of the window — though Bardghji is more likely to leave on loan.

Finally, you wonder about how Rodri’s signing might affect Frenkie de Jong. There is no chance of him leaving this summer (even less now he has torn the medial collateral ligament in his right knee), but sources around Barca link their move for Rodri to disappointment within the club over how De Jong managed his fitness at the World Cup. It will be one to monitor in the future.

What does all this mean for Julian Alvarez?

Barca sources insist Rodri does not affect their chase for Alvarez. He remains their No 1 target.

But as The Athletic reported in the Transfer DealSheet on Tuesday, there is growing pessimism regarding their chances of landing the Argentina striker.

Alvarez will be back at training with Atletico Madrid next week, and sources close to Barca expect the 26-year-old to speak with manager Diego Simeone, where he will make clear again his wish to join Barcelona.

Alvarez in action for Argentina against Spain in the World Cup final on July 19 (Elsa/Getty Images)

Barca will be waiting for developments, but the stance of Atletico’s board has been made quite clear. Chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin has said they will not sell. Atletico reported Barca to the Spanish Football Federation over their interest in Alvarez, but Barca sources do not expect this to come to anything.

If nothing changes soon, Barcelona will need to decide whether they move on to a new target.

Club sources are not ruling out Barca sticking with the attackers they already have, given the lack of alternatives in the market that would fit their requirements. That is another topic we will explore in more depth in the coming days.

Do Barca really need Rodri?

A key factor here is De Jong’s injury. The 29-year-old played through pain for the Netherlands at the World Cup and is now following a conservative treatment plan for his torn ligament.

Club sources say he could be out for four months. If the treatment does not work out, he could still undergo surgery, and the recovery process would be restarted.

This clearly opens up a spot in the holding midfield role. Marc Bernal, 19, is the player in line to play there in De Jong’s absence, but last season he needed a sensible re-adaptation after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in August 2024.

You can argue he should not carry all the load as the only holding midfielder in the team. Bernal can also operate in a more advanced role, so he should still be able to get minutes.

And Rodri would represent a top-quality upgrade to Flick’s squad.