Rodri became one of the first players in Florentino Pérez's long, storied history as president of Real Madrid to have proven him wrong.
According to El Larguero, Real Madrid had doubts over Rodri's physical capabilities after his long battle with an ACL injury in 2024 and 2025. However, the doubts that they had were quickly dispelled at the World Cup, where Rodri showed some of his best-ever football as a professional player and won the Golden Ball at the tournament as well.
Rodri has been one of the best players in the world for a number of years, but the ACL injury obviously caused some level of concern for any suitor that would want to sign him in the future.
Rodri has always been open about joining Real Madrid at some point, but it was always about whether the club would actually go for him, considering his battles with injuries that season and the ACL injury the season before.
Not many people can say they proved Florentino Perez (and Real Madrid) wrong
It was also worth noting that not only did Rodri prove Pérez wrong, as well as the club, in the fitness sense, but he also made sure that Pérez changed his mind about the player with his performances.
Fabrizio Romano mentioned a couple of days ago that Florentino Pérez actually did not want to give the green light to signing Rodri this summer because of his links with Enrique Riquelme. But the level that Rodri showed at the World Cup, and the obvious problems that Real Madrid have in their squad, meant everything aligned for them to hopefully sign him.
The amount of money that Real Madrid will have to spend will not be nearly as much as what they've spent for Yan Diomande, which is also a bonus, and the Spaniard just ticks all the boxes in terms of leadership, player quality, and the needs of the squad.
Not many people can say they've changed Pérez's mind and also proven him wrong in any aspect. Rodri is one of the very few people who can say that, and that is seriously impressive.
Rodri is getting back to the level that he showed when he surprisingly won the Ballon d'Or over Vinícius Júnior, but also the season before that, when he was probably one of the top three players in the world.
The Spaniard is amazing at what he does, and it will be really interesting to see him do that for Real Madrid as soon as the deal is finally done.
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