Manchester City superstar Rodri is one of the absolute best players who could potentially be available on the summer transfer window, but, like in so many cases, it's clear that the former Ballon d'Or winner is only willing to make himself available for a dream move to Real Madrid.
Rodri openly flirted with Real Madrid to start the March international break while in action for the Spanish national team, and while his comments rubbed many Manchester City fans the wrong way, especially since they had just been knocked out of the Round of 16 by their Champions League rivals, his manager had a different approach.
Guardiola has every reason to dislike Real Madrid after being their chief rival during his time managing Barcelona en route to being one of the best teams in history, but even he could not deny the pull of Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola doesn't sound too mad at Rodri
He struck a surprisingly understanding tone regarding Rodri wanting Real Madrid, which stands in juxtaposition to Chelsea literally punishing their star defensive midfielder Enzo Fernanez for openly yearning for a dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Guardiola said, via Fabrizio Romano, “There is NOT one player I would think that will turn down the chance to play for Real Madrid, I understand completely… he was born in Spain, so…My wish is that Rodri could stay as much longer as possible in this club because he's an incredible player, a top player, but life for everyone is everyone”.
One story here is Pep Guardiola gassing up Real Madrid a bit by stating that no player would reject the chance to join the club, though we have seen players like Marco Reus remain loyal to their clubs instead of pursuing a Bernabeu transfer.
Rodri is no Reus, and his attachment is more to the city of Madrid and the country of Spain, rather than to Man City, Pep, or even past Real rivals Atletico Madrid. Not only did Rodri patch things up with Vinicius Junior after the infamous 2023/24 Ballon d'Or battle, but he also made it clear that having played for Atleti in the past would not change his mind about dreaming of Real Madrid.
The other story here is that Guardiola still very much wants Rodri to stay with Manchester City despite his comments, though that is no surprise at all. A fully healthy Rodri is one of the two most important players on that team alongside striker Erling Haaland, a possible future tranfer target for Los Vikingos.
Guardiola has never stood in the way of a star player leaving, and it does not sound like he is interested in doing the same to Rodri. The real question is, do Real Madrid and Florentino Perez want to spend the big bucks on a 30 year old not far removed from an ACL tear?