Real Madrid are about to make one of the biggest splashes possible when they hire Jose Mourinho to manage their team, as there are fewer names bigger than the Special One in world football with all that he has accomplished at clubs like FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and AS Roma in his lengthy tenure around European football.
In addition to Mourinho, Real Madrid need to make big splashes to upgrade their squad, particularly in the defense and midfield. Players like Nico Schlotterbeck and Josko Gvardiol are being linked to upgrade the profile of the center backs, but Real Madrid have also already been linked to huge names in the midfield from the Premier League like Rodri and Enzo Fernandez.
Per a new report from Cadena SER, via Madrid Xtra, Jose Mourinho has a huge say on one of those signings in the middle of the park. They state that the Chosen One of Florentino Perez will be the deciding factor for the signing of the Manchester City Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. Whether he goes to Real or not depends on the green light coming from the Portuguese manager.
Real Madrid are lukewarm on Rodri
Rodri is coming off an ACL tear not long ago, but he has slowly but surely shown signs of getting back to his best self when he controversially got the Ballon d'Or off Vinicius Junior in a season in which Vini Jr. outclassed Rodri and Manchester City.
Funnily enough, Rodri, who won the European Championship with Spain that year in 2024, himself stated a couple of months ago that he felt Vini Jr. would have been a deserving Ballon d'Or winner. During that international break while on press conference duty for Spain, Rodri surprisingly waxed poetic about Real Madrid and was pretty much offering himself up to the club.
With Manchester City on the verge of losing the Premier League to Arsenal despite a great final push, Rodri getting closer to tipping past 30 years old, and even questions about Pep Guardiola's future, this could be the right time for Rodri to jump ship and try to move back to the Spanish capital for the biggest club in the country, having represented Atletico Madrid as a star before his successful move to the Etihad.
Real Madrid are not as sold on Rodri as his name would indicate because of his injuries, age, and expected fee and wages. But they also trust Jose Mourinho wholeheartedly to run the ship now. If Mou is convinced that Rodri can add something to a midfield lacking in class and control after losing Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, he may be able to convince Florentino Perez to sign Rodri as well.
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