Real Madrid want Rodri! Manchester City’s Ballon d’Or winner to reach Spain at French midfielder’s cost?- The Week

Real Madrid fans were not happy with Manchester City’s Spanish CDM winning the Ballon d’Or over Vinicius Jr earlier this week. Some Madridistas even let their anger spill on the social media pages of Rodri, who was instrumental in the Euro 2024 reaching the Spanish capital.

However, the Real Madrid fans’s dislike of Rodri may come to an end next season, if the latest reports are to be trusted. The Los Blancos, they say, may make a move to sign the highly-rated CDM next summer.

Reports suggest Vinicius Jr and Rodri playing together in the future at a time when Real Madrid are struggling to go past Barcelona in the La Liga race. After 11 rounds of competition, the Los Blancos are second to Hansi Flick’s Barca in the table. The difference between the two sides went up by six points after the Catalans thrashed the defending champions 4-0 at the Bernabeu.

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Spanish media reports claim that Real Madrid blame their midfield for the humiliating defeat to their archrivals on October 27. Despite being packed by youthful players, Madrid reportedly want someone capable of neutralising rival press and making counter-breaking stops to lead them as a unit. These are the particular qualities that make Rodri an indespensible part of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Why is Rodri special?

What elevates Rodri beyond the rest of the world’s best defensive midfielders, is his involvement in open-play sequences resulting in shots. With 8.4 per 90 minutes, he was comfortably top of the league, outshining even attacking players such as Phil Foden (7.8), Martin Odegaard (7.7), Bukayo Saka (7.5), Dominik Szoboszlai (7.4), James Maddison (7.3) and Mohamed Salah (7.3).

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Similarly, in other competitions, City did not lose a match till the FA Cup final when Rodri was playing.

What is Real Madrid’s plan to sign Rodri?

Young French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni could be the casulaty id Real decide to go after Rodri. According to a report by Relevo, Real is not satisfied with Tchouameni’s performance in the middle of the park. The talented youngster who can play as a CDM, CM and even as a CB at times, has not been effective alongside Eduardp Camavinga, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham after Toni Kroos decided to hang his boots at the end of last season.

Some reports had earlier suggested that the 14-time UCL winners may even propose a player-swap-deal with Manchester City for Rodri. Again, it was the 24-year-old Tchouameni who was named as the player likely to be offered to the English giants, who are leading the Premier League by just a point, by Carlo Ancelotti’s team.