Man City identify Rodri replacement after accepting £65m offer from Barcelona

Manchester City have accepted a bid of £65.4m from Barcelona for Rodri. Spain’s World Cup-winning captain is set to leave the Etihad Stadium to join the LaLiga champions and leave City with the question of how to replace him. Barcelona had two previous offers for Rodri refused with City deeming the first, of just £38.4m, not serious but their third bid matched City’s valuation. Rodri, who had been reluctant to sign a new deal, has entered the last year of his contract and City risked losing him on a free transfer if he was not sold this summer. Now they will have two weeks to find a replacement. They are interested in Ayyoub Bouaddi, with Lille manager Davide Ancelotti saying there have been talks about the Moroccan midfielder, and Enzo Fernandez. Rodri will leave Manchester City for Barcelona (Reuters) However, Chelsea had set a deadline of Friday for clubs to bid for Fernandez, who they value at £120m, and City did not submit an offer by then. After the 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, City manager Enzo Maresca said: “All teams need a player like Rodri.” On the subject of Bouaddi, he added: "He's still a Lille player. But any new signing, any new player, for sure as soon as they arrive it’s better.” City have already signed one midfielder this summer, breaking their transfer record to pay £116m for Elliot Anderson, but former captain Bernardo Silva left to join Real Madrid and they are on the brink of selling Tijjani Reijnders to Al Qadsiah for £51m. Rodri, who was a club record £61m buy when he joined City in 2019, has scored 28 goals in 298 appearances for them, including the only goal in the 2023 Champions League final. He won 11 trophies in total, including the Premier League four times, as well as the Ballon d'Or in 2024.