As per a report by Give Me Sport, freshly crowned European Champions Real Madrid have shown an interest in Manchester City midfielder Rodri at the exact same time when City want to make him sign a new deal.
Rodri has been one of the standout players during the Pep Guardiola era at the Etihad Stadium and even though his contract expires in 2027, City are in the process of offering him a new deal which is going to increase his salary.
As per Capology, Rodri earns £220,000 per week which is far too little for a player of his calibre and even Manchester City understand this now. This is why they are trying to upgrade his salary under the terms of the new contract.
Real Madrid have just lost Toni Kroos who has hung up his boots after an illustrious career spanning more than a decade and Ancelotti seems to have identified the Manchester City midfielder as the ideal replacement.
Can Rodri fill the boots of Toni Kroos at Real Madrid?
Rodri has been with Man City since 2019 and over the years, he has been one of the best central/defensive midfielders in the whole of Europe.
He is one of the major reasons why City control games so fiercely and not only is the 27-year-old great in helping out defensively but he can also contribute seamlessly in attack.
Rodri has 56 goal contributions in 257 games for MCFC which is nowhere close to Kroos’ 99 assists and 28 goals in 465 matches for Madrid alone but the City man is much more helpful in defence as compared to his German counterpart. Kroos is more of a game controller who likes to side in the middle of the pitch and dictate the pace while Rodri is a proper box-to-box man.
Similar to Kroos, the City midfielder also has an appetite for trophies, winning four EPL titles and one UCL trophy so in that department Ancelotti will be properly covered.
On paper, it’s almost impossible to replace Toni Kroos and the kind of impact he’s had at the Bernabeu but if Perez has to get in an heir, Rodri is someone who comes the closest.
Will Perez be able to bring him to the Bernabeu?
The Spanish international is valued at €120 million with three more years remaining in his deal so Real Madrid will have to be ready to shell out a fortune and that will be the first major stumbling block for Florentino Perez.
Rodri’s contract does not seem to have a release clause so City can easily quote around €150-180 million for the CDM. However, with the futures of KDB and Bernardo Silva already up in the air, Guardiola won’t want to lose a midfield pillar to a team like Real Madrid.
Madrid might have saved a ton of money by signing Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer but we doubt if the Los Blancos will want to spend such a steep amount on Rodri, especially after they have signed Bellingham just last year.
Apart from Jude, Ancelotti also has other world-class midfielders like Tchouameni, Valverde and Camavinga so it will be much more sensible for the Spanish giants to sign a player like Joshua Kimmich who has just one more year remaining on his contract.
There’s no doubt that a player like Rodri is going to light up the Bernabeu but we have a feeling Madrid are going to drop their interest once Manchester City quote their transfer price.
