According to reports on Thursday morning (Thursday the 6th of August 2026), Real Madrid's plans to sign Manchester City midfielder Rodri are now in danger
With the deal to sign Yan Diomande reportedly all but done, and contract negotiations with Vinicius Jr said to be making progress, the one remaining thing to complete the transfer window for Real Madrid is to seal the signing of Rodri from Manchester City.
For all intense and purposes, it seemed like things were progressing well. All along - even dating back to last season - it has been clear to see that the player himself is very keen on the move, and in the last couple of weeks, president Florentino Perez has reciprocated that interest and the club have tried to make progress on a deal.
However, there has been a significant development, and not in a good way. As of this morning (the 6th of August), it is being widely reported that the club's plan to move players on in order to bring Rodri in have stalled.
Last week, we mentioned how the club needed to move a player on in order to bring Rodri in, with Carlos Espi the replacement for Gonzalo Garcia, and Diomande taking up the final squad space.
According to Spanish outlet COPE, via MadridXtra, the club's summer plans have "fully stalled". The idea was Raul Asencio and Eduardo Camavinga to leave, and for a central defender and midfielder (Rodri) to come in. But, the trend is that they won't leave (Asencio's injury probably a part of that).
French journalist Djameel (who has proven to be very reliable this summer), via MadridXtra, has said that the plan was Camavinga out, Rodri in, but the Frenchman does not want to leave the Bernabeu.
Spanish journalist Ramon Alvarez says that "Rodri is now a very real possibility for Barca", and mentions that "I''m beit told that the cules (Barcelona) may have taken the lead in the last few hours." Whilst English journalist Alex Crook has said that Barcelona "seem to be moving ahead" of Real Madrid in the pursuit of Rodri.
Journalist Matteo Moretto has said - again via MadridXtra - that a deal could be stalled. He has had an agreement on personal terms with Los Blancos for a little while now, but his Barcelona team mates from the Spain national team (and there are a lot of them), are trying to convince him to join them instead, "Rodri is thinking".
Well, that is a big concern. When you first hear the news about Real Madrid needing to shift someone, you could take solace in the fact the player definitely wants to join, and would likely be willing to be patient. But, based on that above report, he is at least considering joining Barcelona.
It does not feel impossible that he would rather join Real Madrid, but is worried a deal would not be done this window, and as a Spaniard wanting to move back to Spain, is willing to instead join Barcelona this window.
