The biggest deal: Mourinho waits impatiently for Rodri

Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Dumfries, Diomande, Carlos Espi. The Portuguese coach's technical staff are working flat out to make a success of the revolution sweeping through the team. They know one thing above all: the sheer scale of the changes demands a player who links every line together.

Meanwhile, the outgoing players will be the final piece that decides the group Mourinho ends up with. This is a coach who has always rated building play from the back as one of his greatest strengths.

Real Madrid could have wrapped up the Rodri deal far earlier. Instead the file stayed frozen until Florentino Perez gave the green light.

At Valdebebas, everyone saw this signing as "a matter of time". The team's real transformation needs a player who can change the course of a match on his own, and more than that, one who can drag the opponent's performance down with him, exactly what Rodri showed during the World Cup.

There's a symbolic weight to the move too. Rodri is one of the stars of the Spain side crowned world champions, and that always boosts a player's appeal and his value.

Age never sparked any debate inside Real Madrid. The club wants a player who delivers an immediate return. 

The price is what worries them. Young talent now changes hands for astonishing sums, just as it did with Diomande, for whom Leipzig managed to force through the highest possible fixed fee before letting him go.

Real Madrid and Manchester City have already opened talks over the midfielder, a player comfortable in a double pivot, the system Mourinho tends to favour.

Rodri has spent his years under Pep Guardiola proving something else, though. He can operate with complete independence, no permanent midfield partner required. 

That leadership and self-sufficiency is exactly what Real Madrid have missed since Toni Kroos walked away. It is the quality they want back, and they see Rodri as the man to deliver it.

Manchester City know Real Madrid want the player, and they intend to squeeze the biggest possible fee from the sale of a man they believe has already paid back his investment.

City have never been shy of taking offers. Pep Guardiola's famous line still rings out from the days when he was asked about interest in Bernardo Silva: "Let them come, with the money."

Officials at the Etihad Stadium have set an initial ceiling of 75 million euros. Real Madrid will try to drive that figure down during negotiations.

Real Madrid recently boosted their financial liquidity by offloading a number of players, among them Gonzalo Garcia. Manchester City know full well what the Spanish club are capable of when it comes to landing major deals, and they're determined to squeeze out every possible penny.

On the pitch, Rodri's value to Real Madrid is priceless. The player has already given his blessing to the switch under contractual terms that would let him sign the last big contract of his career.