Fernando Morientes has pushed the Rodri debate away from simple transfer chatter and into something sharper. The former Real Madrid striker says the club were never really serious about signing Rodri, and that the blame is now being shifted onto the Manchester City midfielder because Barcelona are his preferred move.

Morientes' version of the story

Morientes did not dress it up. "It seems like a very bad joke to me," he said to madriduniversal.com. He went further too, saying, "Those of us who know how this works are aware that Real Madrid never really wanted Rodri at any point."

His most pointed line was the bluntest: "They're treating us like fools when they say Rodri rejected Real Madrid." He added that the club are passing "the hot potato" to the player by saying he wanted Barcelona, and argued that if Florentino Perez had wanted him, the deal would not have slipped away.

That is the heart of the disagreement. Reports elsewhere have suggested Madrid were genuinely in the race, but Morientes is forcing the argument onto club intent rather than player preference. On his reading, this was not a clean rejection from Rodri, it was Madrid backing away and then dressing that up differently.

Barcelona still have the fee problem

Even with that noise around Madrid, the transfer itself is not close to done. Barcelona's opening bid was €45m plus €5m in variables, and Manchester City are asking for at least £60m for Rodri. The gap is still obvious.

City's valuation is one part of the puzzle, Rodri's fitness is the other. He had back surgery and is facing a battle to be fit for the start of the season, which makes any move more complicated and helps explain why the negotiations have not moved quickly.

There is also a football reason City will not be easy to move. Rodri has already played 8 World Cup matches in the curated sample, and his 7.57 average rating suggests a player still operating at a high level despite the surgery concern. That is why the price stays where it is, and why Barcelona still have a proper climb to make before anyone starts talking about a finished deal.

For now, Morientes has done what a lot of transfer noise fails to do. He has made the story about credibility, not just interest. The next concrete step is still the same one: Barcelona have to get closer to City's price.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 6 outlets. How we work →