Although the 2024-25 season has just started (with the conquest of the European Super Cup already in the can), Real Madrid is moving from the offices of the Bernabéu and setting the big objectives to strengthen and reinforce the sporting project with an eye on the 2025-26 season. As AS already anticipated in its day, Alphonso Davies (23 years old) is agreed and tied to land in the capital next summer with a free transfer under his arm. Bayern Munich failed to convince the Canadian to accept the generous renewal offer that the Bavarian club offered him, so Davies will become, at zero cost like Mbappé since there is no transfer with his original club, the first high-profile signing of next season. But the ‘big fish’ will be someone else.
The splendid Spanish midfielder of Manchester City (let’s not forget that he was named MVP of the last European Championship in Germany) has become an almost priority objective. The painful departure of Toni Kroos (in the elite football market there is no one like him), has forced Madrid to look for profiles with at least certain similarities given that the team’s play has been greatly affected by the departure of the German maestro. Rodrigo is 28 years old, so he would arrive at the Bernabéu at 29 (he turns 29 on June 22), the same age at which Zidane signed for Madrid in 2001. Rodrigo has a contract with City until 2027, but los citizen They have not managed to get him to consider accepting a renewal offer now.
His agent, Pablo Barquero (who is also Raúl González’s agent, so he has a very good relationship with the Real Madrid hierarchy), has received City calls to extend contract footballer who gave the English club its only Champions League with the goal he scored against Inter in the 2023 final. Rodrigo does not rule it out because he knows that he would be placed on the highest salary scale, without envying Haaland himself, but The Madrid native would be very tempted to return to his hometown and be part of the great project that Madrid has is consolidating for the coming years. Rodrigo would only leave City to join Real Madrid, so we are not talking about putting himself on the market to enter a bidding process for the highest bidder. In any case, he is a player who is on the radar, logically due to his great quality, but Madrid has not moved any strings for a possible negotiation.
Only two open paths
Rodrigo only has two paths on his professional horizon: renew with City or accept the siren song of Madrid and sign for Los Blancos. There is no third way. Madrid is moving cautiously and will not do anything until the end of the current season when the cards are still on the table. With only two years left on his contract and with Guardiola’s departure from the dugout more than likely citizen In 2025, Rodrigo would be clear that it could be time to make a radical change in his successful career. Madrid already paid 103 million to Borussia Dortmund for Bellingham, as it was a strategic signing. As Transfer market places Spanish in With a current value of 130 million, the transaction would surely be economically around those figures.
The English club has already shown in recent years that it has no problems in going to the market to sell.. Gündogan, a year ago, left for Barça when the Catalans did not match the salary offer they were offering him; Mahrez went to Al-Ahli; Sterling to Chelsea; now Julián Álvarez to Atleti under Cholo… It is not a club that refuses to collect money at the cost of letting one of its great figures go.
With his 16 on his back
Besides, At Madrid, Rodrigo would be waiting for his favourite number: number 16. Since Luka Modric (who will turn 39 next Monday) will almost certainly leave the Bernabéu at the end of this season, his number 10 will be inherited by Kylian Mbappé (25), who wears it proudly in France. The Frenchman would leave the number 9 vacant, which Endrick (18) would happily take up. As the Brazilian temporarily wears the number 16, he would pass to the broad shoulders of Rodrigo, who wears it proudly both at City and with the Spanish national team.
And finally, Madrid wants to recover some of its Spanish quota having been weakened in that aspect with the departures of Nacho and Joselu to Arab football, without forgetting that the youth players Rafa Marín, Mario Martín and Latasa also did so. Conclusion: In 2025 there will be very interesting moves so that Rodrigo could end up at Real Madridto give shape and power to a completely renewed midfield with his presence alongside Camavinga, Valverde, Bellingham and Güler. A lot of talent.
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