Barca have made an opening bid to City for Rodri, according to reports from, among others, Sky Sports and Fabrizio Romano. Romano says the Catalans offered a base fee of €45 million plus a further €5 million in bonuses.
City, last season's Premier League runners-up, are said to have rejected the offer immediately on Friday morning. Barca must now go back with an improved bid if they want to land their top midfield target, and a report by The Athletic suggests there is little chance of a quick deal.
Barcelona's total package of €50 million remains well short of City's valuation. The Sky Blues would only be willing to enter concrete negotiations over a Rodri transfer if an offer of around €80 million arrives, it is claimed. The Spaniard's contract runs until 2027.
Explosive development around Rodri: rejection for Real Madrid, move to FC Barcelona?
Earlier, news finally emerged that Barca had stolen a march on arch-rivals Real Madrid for Rodri. The midfielder's adviser, Pablo Barquero, told radio station Cadena Ser that Rodri had decided against signing for the Spanish record champions from Madrid.
"The offer was really good. We appreciated the professionalism, the class, the respect and the way Real Madrid conducted the negotiations. Real Madrid were seriously interested in signing Rodri and did everything to win him over. From the president to the managing director, everyone worked to make Rodri's move to Real Madrid possible," said Barquero.
Barquero said the talks with Los Blancos had gone "positively", but added that the Spanish world and European champion had "decided in favour of another offer". He did not reveal which club had got the green light. According to matching media reports, it is Real's arch-rivals Barcelona.
On Thursday, the Spanish newspaper Marca had already reported that Rodri had given his commitment to the decision-makers at the reigning LaLiga champions under coach Hansi Flick for a move in the current transfer window. Barca must now take on the difficult task of reaching an agreement with Manchester City.
Getty ImagesBarcelona apparently have to sell players for Rodri transfer
By that point, disillusionment had already started to spread at Real. In Madrid, they had been picking up more and more signals from Rodri's camp that he preferred Camp Nou to the Bernabeu. Los Blancos had allegedly been trying for several weeks to sign the Spanish world champion captain. Rodri had shown no sign at all of extending with the Sky Blues, so a departure in the current transfer window was becoming an increasingly realistic option for the English club.
Barcelona's style of play appears to have worked in their favour in the race for Rodri, with the team clearly built around possession. Real, by contrast, are expected at times to rely on transitional play even under new coach Jose Mourinho. Rodri would also join numerous team-mates at the Catalans with whom he won the World Cup title this summer, something he would not have at Real.
With Frenkie de Jong facing a longer spell out with a knee injury, Barca have a need in central midfield that Rodri could fill.
Before the transfer can happen, however, Barca must first sell players, according to The Athletic, to raise the necessary funds. This summer, the Catalans have already invested around €100 million in Anthony Gordon (Newcastle) and Karim Adeyemi (Dortmund).