Rodri has been dreaming of a Real Madrid transfer for months, even stating at an international break in the spring that he wants to go there. The Manchester City man, though, has received no love from Madrid president Florentino Perez, who made it pretty clear behind the scenes that he was not interested, and when Real Madrid were being linked to defensive midfielders this summer transfer window before signing Aurelien Tchouameni to a new contract, even Jose Mourinho did not seem intrigued by Rodri, preferring Enzo Fernandez and Portuguese young gun Mateus Fernandes instead.
Maybe Rodri was giving Real Madrid some reason to pause and rethink their strategy at the 2026 World Cup, as the 2024 European Champion and Ballon d'Or winner put on some midfield monster classes in big games, including getting rave reviews for controlling the entire 90 minutes in a dominant 2-0 Spain win in the World Cup semifinals over the French juggernaut.
But if Rodri had spent months twerking for Real Madrid with just one year left on his contract, all of that has gone out the window now, because the Spanish midfielder is openly praising the very opponent on Argentina whom Real Madrid fans are 100 percent against at all times.
Rodri is not twerking for Real Madrid any more
Ahead of the World Cup Final against Argentina, the Spanish No. 6 didn't just pay his respects to Lionel Messi, he gushed over the player and straight up called him the GOAT. Rodri told reporters before the match, via Fabrizio Romano, “For me, Messi is the best ever. He’s the GOAT. In Qatar, he led Argentina to the trophy”.
It may not seem like a big deal to most people, but it is a cardinal sin to refer to Messi as the GOAT and snub Cristiano Ronaldo like that around Madrid. Rodri played for Real's rivals in Atletico Madrid, but he said in March that this did not matter and acted as if he was a full Madridista who understood the club.
But whereas Marc Cucurella has come off like that after joining Real Madrid this summer from Chelsea, this quote from Rodri proves that he is all talk - or that he does not care and has realized he is not coming to Madrid anyway, so he is showing how he really feels. But since he has been in the city, he has to know how Madridistas will feel about groveling over Messi, because Cristiano will always be the GOAT for the Men in White.
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