Barcelona make third bid for Manchester City captain Rodri

Barcelona have made a third offer to sign Manchester City captain Rodri, with the latest proposal reportedly worth £60m or more.

According to British broadcaster TalkSPORT, Barcelona are closing in on an agreement and could complete the deal within the next few hours or days.

The Spanish club are keen to finalise the transfer quickly so Rodri can feature in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Al Ahly before Barcelona begin their La Liga campaign.

Manchester City have already rejected two previous approaches from Barcelona. The first was worth €45m, while a second offer reached €60m, but neither was accepted by the Premier League club’s management.

Rodri travelled on Friday to rejoin Manchester City training as preparations continue for the new season. His return comes after he represented Spain at the 2026 World Cup, helping his country win the tournament for only the second time in their history.

The midfielder is regarded as one of the leading players in his position in world football. He played a key role in Spain’s World Cup triumph and has also collected several major honours with Manchester City since joining the club in 2019, including the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League.

Rodri has made 298 appearances for Manchester City, scoring 28 goals and providing 32 assists.

Barcelona have played four pre-season matches so far and have two more fixtures remaining before the new campaign begins. They opened their preparations with a 4-1 victory over Europa, before drawing 2-2 with Birmingham City and then winning the subsequent penalty shootout 3-2.

In a three-team tournament in which each match consisted of one half, Barcelona beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 but lost 1-0 to Udinese.

Their final pre-season fixture will be against Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou next Wednesday.

Barcelona finished as La Liga champions in each of the past two seasons, ending both campaigns above Real Madrid in the table.

They are due to start their league campaign in the second round of fixtures, when they face Elche on Sunday, 23 August. Their opening match against Athletic Club was postponed because a large number of players had taken part in the latter stages of the World Cup.

Barcelona will play that rearranged first-round fixture against Athletic Club at Camp Nou on Thursday, 27 August. The timing of the Joan Gamper Trophy and the opening league matches has increased the urgency around any potential move for Rodri, with Barcelona hoping to have the midfielder available as soon as possible if an agreement can be reached with Manchester City.