Барселона Реал Мадридыг ялж, Родриг эгнээндээ нэгтгэсэн наймааг амжилттай болголоо

One wedding leads to another. That’s how the Spanish saying goes (‘De una boda sale otra boda’).

This summer, however, a wedding led to Rodri signing for Barcelona from Manchester City. La Liga’s champions saw off rival interest from Real Madrid to complete a transfer that could be worth up to €76.5million (£65.3m; $87.8m) including add-ons.

Back in late July, Rodri was on holiday on the Costa Brava. Fresh from lifting the World Cup and winning the award for the tournament’s best player, the 30-year-old Spain captain was there to attend the wedding of Dani Codina, an old friend.

Codina is Barcelona’s chief of operations and player services, a role he started in 2025. He worked in a similar post at Manchester City, where he met and became close to Rodri. Multiple members of City’s backroom staff under Pep Guardiola were also present at the wedding in Spain’s north east.

Rodri arrived with enough time before the ceremony to spend a few days unwinding in one of the most picturesque and captivating landscapes Catalonia has to offer, a two-hour drive up the coast from Barcelona.

But on one of those days, he had some business to deal with, and to do so, he needed a favour. He had a very specific request: he was looking for a discreet spot to meet somebody for lunch, emphasising that he absolutely had to go unnoticed.

Rodri was pointed towards a restaurant in Begur called Can Pitu, a traditional place in one of the area’s well-visited towns. Begur is filled with shops and restaurants, but Can Pitu is off the radar. Old-school, unprepossessing and away from the most touristic streets, it is mostly frequented by locals who know all you need to: the food is excellent.

Rodri stepped into the restaurant without a reservation and asked for a table. A few minutes later, Barcelona’s sporting director Deco came in. Nobody in the place made a fuss or asked for a photo.

Pictures of the two together would have made for a major scoop. At that point, it was looking like Rodri would be leaving Manchester City to join Real Madrid. Sources at the 15-time European champions — like all those cited here, they spoke anonymously to protect relationships — appeared confident that agreement would be reached.

During Codina’s wedding on July 25, the rumour among guests was that Rodri had changed his mind and wanted to join Barca. Video footage of him singing and dancing to Barcelona songs at the party would be shared on social media several weeks later.

On the Costa Brava, it seemed the chances of a Barca hijack were growing, but there were still significant steps to take towards a move to the Camp Nou. Back at Madrid, the message coming out of the Bernabeu was still one of confidence. Some sources even considered his arrival a done deal, even though Madrid had not made contact with City.

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final on July 19 (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

In the background, talks between Rodri’s camp and Barcelona continued. On August 5, Deco again travelled for another key meeting, this time to Madrid.

The following day, The Athletic reported that Barca were exploring a deal for Rodri, who preferred a move to them.

At Madrid, the news came as a blow to rebuilding plans under new manager Jose Mourinho. That same day, they announced the signing of Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig in a deal worth up to €140million. On social media, scores of replies criticised the club for missing out on Rodri.

Barcelona were still proceeding with utmost caution. Deco’s strategy for signings is to keep things as closed as possible. In most transfer operations, only a very small number of individuals are made aware of developments from his office.

In Rodri’s case especially, Deco and Barca’s leadership wanted to be extremely careful. They had already learnt a tough lesson from their pursuit of Bernardo Silva this summer.

Barca got in touch with Bernardo and his camp to discuss signing him as a free agent as his contract with Manchester City expired. They believed they had reached a verbal agreement for him to join.

However, Bernardo kept listening to offers and Real Madrid played their hand, convincing the Portugal midfielder to join them instead. Barca wanted assurances that Rodri was fully on board before entering negotiations with City.

Rodri was in the final year of his contract at City and had turned down offers of an extension (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

Sources close to the situation say Rodri’s decision to switch his preference from Madrid to Barca was primarily due to how they play, anticipating a style that better suits his game and is similar to what he has been used to at City and with Spain.

Beyond Deco’s moves and secret lunches, manager Hansi Flick also spoke with Rodri on multiple occasions as Barca sought to advance the transfer. Flick was eager to add Rodri’s experience and leadership to his talented but youthful squad that has won consecutive league titles.

However, Barcelona’s eight Spain internationals who were with Rodri at the World Cup this summer did not play a significant role in efforts to convince him.

By contrast, when Madrid’s concerns over Barca’s moves first surfaced, club executives asked the team’s players and other individuals with a connection to Rodri to reach him and make sure he was still convinced by their offer to join. Despite those attempts, his mind appeared made up.

Madrid believe they made a good proposal to Rodri, on both the football and finance sides. It is also true that, before the World Cup, Madrid were not considering signing him.

There were doubts about his physical condition and age, a new contract had been agreed with holding midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, and Rodri’s name had also been associated with Enrique Riquelme, the opposition candidate to Florentino Perez in June’s presidential election.

But the World Cup changed everything. While Madrid sources respected his decision to choose Barca, his performances for Spain were an eye-opening example of how dominant he still can be in a position Madrid have struggled to cover since the departures of Toni Kroos in 2024 and Luka Modric in 2025.

At Barca, Rodri’s signing is seen as a unique opportunity to significantly improve their squad.

Previous manager Xavi spent almost an entire season searching for a defensive-midfield successor to Sergio Busquets, who left following the 2022-23 campaign, before eventually adapting without one.

When Flick arrived as Xavi’s replacement, Marc Casado performed well in the early stages of 2024-25, while Marc Bernal, now 19, emerged as a brilliant prospect. Eric Garcia has also played expertly in the holding midfield role and Barca have finally seen the best of Frenkie de Jong under their German coach.

De Jong’s fitness was a factor in Barca’s thinking on Rodri. The 29-year-old Netherlands international returned from the World Cup in July with a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee, and Barca put his expected recovery time at four months.

Rodri won the Ballon d’Or in 2024 (Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Barcelona’s first bid for Rodri, reported by The Athletic on August 7, included an initial fee of around €45million plus add-ons. City valued the player at closer to €80m and did not regard Barca’s opening salvo as serious.

City had been trying to extend Rodri’s contract on multiple occasions, but when these were rejected, they became open to selling the midfielder, whose deal was set to run until June 2027.

Sources familiar with the deal said it had been made clear to them, weeks before negotiations started, that Rodri’s choice was Barcelona over Real Madrid and that there was also a preference on the City side to do business with Madrid, who were seen as easier to deal with than Barca, although the Premier League side denied both of these points when asked by The Athletic.

Barca, who have consistently said they are financially in a position to make major signings this summer, kept pushing and improving their terms. A second bid brought their valuation to €60million, but this was also turned down as City held out for more.

Nine days on from Barca’s opening offer, a breakthrough was finally made with an agreement in principle over a deal worth up to €76.5million — of which €60m will come as an up-front fee. Of those add-ons, around €11m is viewed as more achievable.

On Monday evening, Rodri landed in Barcelona and addressed reporters waiting outside the airport.

“It’s been an intense few days, I’m happy it’s all been resolved. I’m very happy to be here,” he said.

“To play for Barcelona is a dream for me. I’m really excited to join up with my team-mates, most of whom I already know. Now, it’s time to get to work.”

Additional reporting: Mario Cortegana, David Ornstein, Sam Lee, Laia Cervelló Herrero