Rodri Hernandez is closing in on a move from Manchester City to Barcelona. Both parties have reached a near-final agreement built around a fixed fee plus variable clauses, and the deal should be announced in the coming days once a few outstanding details are resolved.
According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan club have bridged the significant gap that separated City's financial demands from Barcelona's initial offer. A final agreement with the 30-year-old, who has just one year left on his contract at the English club, was struck a few days ago.
The two parties now sit just steps away from exchanging the documents needed to complete the signing, pending final sign-off on some technical details around the structure of the deal. That opens the door for the Spain international to join the Blaugrana early this week.
Hansi Flick wants the deal wrapped up as quickly as possible. Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca had suggested Rodri was expected to report on Friday to begin pre-season training, yet the latest developments point firmly towards Catalonia.
Flick is looking to prepare early for the opening match of the Spanish league in two weeks. He wants to get to know the squad at his disposal for the season before official competitions begin, particularly with the window running until 31 August, which makes wrapping up urgent deals a priority for his staff.
Rodri's own stance shifted dramatically. Barcelona were not his first choice at the start of the window, nor even after the World Cup. His doubts over Real Madrid, and the fact that a near-final agreement with the Royal Club was never officially activated, proved decisive in changing his destination.
The German coach hopes to have Rodri available at almost the same time as the rest of the squad's world champions, who are due to begin training on Wednesday after taking exceptional leave following the World Cup. That hands Flick a better chance to build his starting line-up before the new season kicks off.