Real Madrid fans have been pushing for president Florentino Perez to change his mind about signing Manchester City star Rodri, who had such a sensational World Cup for Spain that not only did he win another piece of major team silverware in his career, but he also won another prestigious individual honor as the Golden Ball of the tournament.
Rodri answered all the questions about his ACL tear, playing like two midfielders in one as he totally controlled games and made other star No. 6's like Aurelien Tchouameni of France and Enzo Fernandez from Argentina look quite ordinary in the two biggest matches of the tournament.
And though Perez was initially blocking the Rodri transfer for months despite the Man City star clearly wanting a dream Santiago Bernabeu move in spite of his Atletico Madrid past, it looks like everyone else in the buildling has been able to successfully convince Florentino otherwise.
Real Madrid are in pole position for Rodri
According to a bombshell report from David Ornstein and Mario Cortegana of the Athletic, Real Madrid are now "working" on a deal to sign Rodri from Manchester City. In fact, they are so optimistic that they can get this move done that they are "operating" on the "basis" that the star midfielder is "joining this summer". Meanwhile, Manchester City are hoping that Rodri will still stay, even if they are not able to convince the 30 year old to sign a contract extension before he becomes a free agent this year.
So Real Madrid are not even waiting. Florentino Perez has changed his mind, which he rarely does, and Real Madrid think they can seal this blockbuster. They already sold Aurelien Tchouameni on his importance and signed him to an extension, but as the World Cup showed, there are clearly vast levels between Rodri and Tchou. Even in "bad" season, Rodri is ten times the player than Tchou, whom many fans feel has escaped the harsh criticism he deserves for not developing since his eye watering 80 million euro transfer from Monaco in 2022 to be the Casemiro replacement.
Real Madrid have largely changed their minds on the basis of the World Cup Rodri had, and they have even more reason to believe he is coming. Because, per Ornstein and Cortegana, Man City were actually already planning new rounds of contract talks after the World Cup. But during those discusssions, Rodri has been showing a clear lack of interest in re-signing. It looks like a deal is on.
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