Barcelona have set a final deadline to wrap up the signing of Rodri, so he can be unveiled as the biggest star at the team's presentation during the Joan Gamper Trophy.
According to Spanish newspaper "Sport", closing the Rodri deal within 48 hours has become Barcelona's main objective. The midfielder was required to join Manchester City's pre-season preparations for the new campaign, though he will most likely train alone to regain his fitness while awaiting his imminent move to La Liga.
Manchester City have shown unprecedented firmness in these negotiations. The English club need to comply with financial fair play rules following the huge sums they are investing in their new project.
Any deal must approach 80 million euros, or at least appear to through variables and incentives, some of which will be difficult to achieve.
Why the 48-hour deadline? Barcelona want Rodri to be the most prominent star at the team's presentation during the Joan Gamper.
Inside Barcelona, calm prevails over this deal, despite the deliberate leaks from England and Madrid about the possibility of the negotiations collapsing and the existence of insurmountable disagreements.
The Catalan club have already pulled off the most important step: securing Rodri's approval after he rejected the option of moving to Real Madrid. Every party has known since then that the deal would happen sooner or later.
For now, each side is working to protect its interests. Barcelona are searching for the final formula to complete the deal over the weekend, or on Monday at the very latest.
Barcelona made a final offer worth 60 million euros, plus 10 million euros in variables and incentives. They also proposed increasing the value of the variables to approach 75 million euros, but Manchester City insisted on 80 million euros. The Catalan club consider that figure excessive despite the player's quality, especially as he has only one year left on his contract.
One option now on the table mirrors Paris Saint-Germain's approach in the Ferran Torres deal: raising the fixed amount to approach 70 million euros, or lifting the fixed amount to 65 million euros while raising the variables to 15 million euros.
Either formula would come very close to Manchester City's demands, and from there the negotiations will revolve around the final details.
Rodri had preferred not to travel to Manchester. He did so yesterday evening, after negotiating with his current club about joining pre-season preparations for the new campaign.
Barcelona expected Manchester City to exempt Rodri, just as the Catalan club did with Ferran Torres and Paris Saint-Germain. Instead, the English club saw the player's return to Manchester as extra leverage to settle the matter as quickly as possible.
The midfielder has already told Manchester City he wants to leave for Barcelona and nowhere else. Rodri hopes the negotiations do not reach a major stage of tension, because he has always behaved in a highly professional manner during his years in England, and he deserves for his club to allow him to leave.
Talks between the two clubs continue, while Barcelona president Joan Laporta will step in during the final stage to give the deal a last push.