Barcelona make improved £51m bid for Rodri as Manchester City target Fernández

Rodri in action for Spain in the World Cup final last month. Photograph: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Rodri in action for Spain in the World Cup final last month. Photograph: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images Barcelona make improved £51m bid for Rodri as Manchester City target Fernández Latest offer close to City’s valuation for Spain midfielder Chelsea’s £120m price for Fernández may be too high Barcelona have made an improved bid to Manchester City of around €60m (£51m) for Rodri. This follows Barça’s initial offer of €45m that was rejected out of hand by City. The Spanish club’s new valuation is close to City’s own for the 30-year-old who captained Spain to the World Cup and won the Ballon d’Or in 2024 . As the midfielder has declared a preference for Barcelona it seems it is inevitable he will leave. In preparation

City are targeting Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández as a potential signing though the west London club’s valuation of around £120m may be too high. Men’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from Europe’s top five leagues Read more Chelsea are understood to be intent on that price for the attacking midfielder so any transfer may include add-ons. Enzo Maresca is keen on Fernández after working with him for a season-and-a-half at Chelsea before his tenure ended in January. The 25-year-old was a key member of Maresca’s team that finished fourth and won the Europa Conference in 2024-25 and the Fifa Club World Cup last summer. If City were to sign Fernández, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, another midfielder could be offloaded, with Tijjani Reijnders a possible candidate to depart. As Rodri is intent on a move to Barcelona the arrival of Fernández, Chelsea’s

captain, would add seniority and leadership to Maresca’s squad and a player whose combative style would offer an edge to City’s play. City have so far recruited Elliott Anderson for £116m from Nottingham Forest and are close to the signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi for around £85m from Lille. Chelsea are thought to have enquired about Bournemouth’s Alex Scott as a replacement for Fernández should he leave. On Wednesday City announced the signing of Gerónimo Rulli on a two-year deal following James Trafford’s move to Leeds. The Argentina goalkeeper was previously at the club in 2016-17. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion The 35-year-old said: “My job now is to train hard, get to know the players and staff and do everything I can.” Explore more on these topics Manchester City Barcelona Chelsea Transfer window La Liga European club football news Share Reuse this content

📝 This article summarizes content originally published by The Guardian. All credit to the original source.