It appeared for a really very long time that the fairytale of the summer season, the one concerning the king returning to his fort, would enter its closing chapter inside the partitions of the Bernabeu Stadium.
That has been the narrative everybody has heard for a minimum of the final yr.
‘And after Diomande… Rodri ,’ learn a headline in Spanish outlet Marca earlier this month. ‘At Actual Madrid, there may be nice optimism concerning the arrival of the Spanish midfielder, the crowning achievement of a spectacular challenge spearheaded by Jose Mourinho,’ its writer wrote.
A information article in a unique Spanish publication, printed extra not too long ago, was much more bombastic.
‘The Metropolis participant has no doubts and is just contemplating one possibility. If he finally ends up leaving Manchester, there is just one attainable vacation spot for him: Actual Madrid.’
And it is smart that so many predicted that this may be the result. Why would not the World Cup-winning Spain captain, who turned 30 in June and is determined to depart England and return residence, select the intense lights of the world’s greatest membership?
But, after months of assumptions and more and more assured studies, Rodri has chosen Barcelona as a substitute. The choice has blindsided many in Spain, the place a return to the capital had lengthy been considered as a close to inevitability.
After months of assumptions and more and more assured studies, Rodri has chosen Barcelona as a substitute of Actual Madrid
Why would not the World Cup-winning Spain captain, who’s determined to depart England and return residence, select the intense lights of the world’s greatest membership?
In any case, the Bernabeu is 20 miles from the midfielder’s hometown of Villanueva de la Canada the place, it appears, a few of his household are nonetheless based mostly. And what we do know is that the principle cause Rodri needs to maneuver house is due to household causes.
Not solely that, nevertheless it appears there are even some Actual Madrid followers in Rodri’s household. A dig again via the archives and it would not take lengthy to stumble throughout an image of considered one of his brothers within the well-known white, blue and gold strip of Los Blancos. Regardless of Rodri having performed for rivals Atletico Madrid prior to now, the ties to the Madridistas are unavoidable.
But on Tuesday night time, he sealed his £65.4m transfer to Barcelona – and insisted it was what he had at all times wished. ‘I’d prefer to say that I’m very pleased to be right here,’ he mentioned. ‘It’s a really special occasion, a vital new chapter in my profession. Barcelona is a unbelievable membership, a world benchmark for its method to soccer and the values it represents. I had different choices, however Barcelona was my first selection, and I made that clear.’
Rodri was all smiles throughout his unveiling as a Barcelona participant on a deal to 2030 on Tuesday
Whereas Actual Madrid appeared like the apparent vacation spot from a distance, the extra you study Rodri’s character and priorities, the better it turns into to know why Barcelona in the end received out. As a result of if there’s one factor most of us find out about Rodri, it’s that he would not need you to know very a lot about Rodri.
There is no such thing as a Twitter feed or Instagram web page or frankly any type of public persona. Nowhere to see the place he has been on vacation or what, if any, his pets appear to be. No post-gym updates on how he’s feeling after having again surgical procedure on the finish of July.
And crucially, nowhere to present perception into what Rodri has been fascinated by his subsequent vacation spot, past the varnished, pre-meditated sentences offered to the media, which have been few and much between.
When requested whether or not his childhood at Atletico could be standing in the best way of a transfer to Actual Madrid, he left the door ajar: ‘There are different gamers who’ve taken that path. Circuitously, however over time. You possibly can’t flip down the very best golf equipment on the planet.’
However this was hardly Enzo Fernandez’s conspicuous flirtation (‘I actually like Madrid’). It was a nod to the truth that, after all, he would entertain a dialog.
The remainder of his shut circle has been watertight too. The little you do discover quantities to a brother’s LinkedIn web page and his girlfriend Laura Iglesias’ personal Instagram web page, restricted to simply 500 followers. Love Island presenter Maya Jama, Ruben Dias’ former girlfriend, is among the few allowed entry into Iglesias’ secluded world.
Actual Madrid is fame: glitz, glamour and Galacticos of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior – whereas Barcelona is pure, unadulterated soccer
Seven of Rodri’s World Cup-winning team-mates, 5 of whom joined him within the closing, are set to grow to be his membership team-mates too
If you tot all of this up and have a look at what we do find out about Rodri and his obsession with preserving his personal life personal, his ft on the ground and nurturing his self-professed ‘habit’ to soccer, then Barcelona abruptly makes much more sense.
Actual Madrid is fame: the glitz, glamour and Galacticos. Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham. Barcelona, alternatively, is pure, unadulterated soccer. Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi. Thinkers and artists who see soccer as an thought as a lot because the trophies within the cupboard.
A few years in the past Rodri was instructed that his nationwide team-mate Alvaro Morata mentioned he would have received the Ballon d’Or sooner had he marketed himself higher. His reply?
‘However I don’t play soccer for that. Possibly folks would love me to be extra marketable however I perceive soccer otherwise. I understand how it really works so I don’t get pissed off if (I get ignored). If sooner or later somebody needs to reward the work, that’s welcome, nevertheless it doesn’t hassle me in any respect.’
At Barcelona, Guardiola’s disciple of tiki-taka and positional play will acclimatise completely, dictating tempo and utilizing his flawless distribution and studying of the sport in Hansi Flick’s well-oiled machine. Seven of his World Cup-winning team-mates, 5 of whom joined him within the closing, are set to grow to be his membership team-mates too.
It would not be unbelievable to suppose that Guardiola would have had a few phrases along with his talisman concerning the perks of taking part in on the Nou Camp through the years. The good supervisor’s departure from Metropolis final summer season merely set the wheels in movement.
Rodri’s age and worth had been an preliminary concern for Actual Madrid president Florentino Perez, and whereas his performances on the World Cup had him satisfied he ought to signal him, clearly not sufficient for Metropolis to snap their hand off on the supply.
Barcelona sporting director Deco caught wind that negotiations had didn’t speed up, and after deep-lying midfielder Frenkie de Jong returned from the World Cup injured, this was the second to step in.
Barca’s preliminary proposal was understood to be nearer to £40million, beneath Metropolis’s valuation. However as soon as Rodri knowledgeable Actual Madrid that Barcelona was his selection, it merely grew to become a matter of chopping a deal.
Metropolis will probably be happy that they managed to get £65.4m for him, contemplating his age. After a tough final season for the membership by which he struggled in his return from an ACL harm, Rodri rebounded in dazzling fashion on the World Cup. If he’s going to kick on into the brand new season, it stays to be seen for a way lengthy.
They nonetheless need an skilled participant to return in after he goes, and that’s even after they fork out round £80million for 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi.
In a message to Metropolis followers on the membership’s web site upon leaving, Rodri wrote: ‘I discovered that saying goodbye is among the most tough issues in life, however I’m going to attempt. I knew I got here right into a prime workforce, however I by no means thought we may be capable to create the legacy we made profitable trophies, followers all over the world, love and respect.
‘We made an instance to encourage the subsequent generations not solely as a result of the success, additionally as a result of the best way we did it. And the followers had been with us each step of the best way.
‘Metropolis didn’t simply make me develop as a participant. They made me develop as a human. I noticed my brother graduating from Manchester Metropolitan College. I may see my girlfriend working for the NHS.
Rodri received 4 Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and three League Cups in a glittering spell at Metropolis underneath Pep Guardiola
‘Manchester formed my entire life. It’s time to say goodbye, because of the membership, the followers, the workers and my team-mates. This journey couldn’t be the identical with out you, my coronary heart will at all times be blue.’
Now they need to additionally adapt to what’s subsequent, and life with no man who has arguably been considered one of their most essential ever signings. In simply seven years his trophy cupboard boasts 4 Premier Leagues, three League Cups, two FA Cups, a Champions League, and a FIFA Membership World Cup, in case you’ll depend it.
Throughout his 298 matches, he has averaged 77 minutes per recreation, a determine which might be increased if it weren’t for the cautious administration of his comeback following his return in 2025 from that knee harm. However greater than that, he’s a pacesetter within the dressing room, and Maresca is already hinting at needing extra skilled heads in to stability his younger squad in his and Bernardo Silva and John Stones’ absence.
Again in 2018, after Rodri had spent a formidable first season in La Liga with Villarreal, Barcelona, looking out for a Sergio Busquets successor, appeared to signal him.
However Atletico Madrid wished their more and more spectacular academy graduate again, and so Rodri moved again to the capital, and a yr later he was Guardiola’s in wet Manchester. Barcelona don’t have any intention of constructing the identical mistake once more.
And, after all, loads of Madridistas at the moment are insisting they by no means wished him anyway.
