Just in: Real Madrid target says ‘yes’ to Barcelona in huge blow for Mourinho

Just in: Real Madrid target says ‘yes’ to Barcelona in huge blow for Mourinho In what comes as a devastating blow to Jose Mourinho & co., priority midfield target Rodri has said ‘yes’ to joining arch-rivals FC Barcelona. This update comes from Jijantes FC , who report that the La Liga champions are now set to begin work to sign the Manchester City and Spain superstar. It is no secret that Real Madrid had been working on a deal for the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner for weeks now, with Florentino Perez finally giving the green light after initial concerns. In fact, personal terms were also understood to be agreed as the player was keen on returning to Madrid, and talks were underway with Manchester City. Barcelona hijack deal The negotiations with the Cityzens, however, were not progressing quickly enough and eventually came to a standstill , which allowed Barcelona to swoop in. Rodri chooses Barcelona over Real Madrid. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images) The La Liga champions have wasted little time in hijacking the operation, with a number of their players from the Spain national team speaking to Rodri to convince him. Moreover, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick himself is understood to have held a conversation with the Spanish midfielder to discuss the sporting project and his role in the team. All this has seen the Blaugrana pull ahead of Real Madrid as the frontrunners to sign their priority midfield target, who has now said yes to them. Blow for Mourinho Having taken over the reins of the team this summer, new manager Mourinho was intent on signing a top-quality midfielder, someone who can control the tempo and dictate proceedings from the centre of the park. Jose Mourinho set to miss out on his top target. (Picture credit:X/@realmadrid) Real Madrid have been missing a player of those characteristics since Toni Kroos’ retirement and Rodri was seen as the ideal pick to fix the issue. However, there was initially hesitation from Perez and the board to sanction a move. Once they did give the green light, Real Madrid seemed to have taken their own sweet time to move the operation forward. One of the reasons which slowed things down is Los Blancos’ inability to clear up space for Rodri in the squad owing to Eduardo Camavinga’s staunch refusal to leave the club. All of these factors have combined to the Spanish capital giants now possibly not only missing out on their main target but to see him join their biggest rivals.