Man City Sells Rodri to Barcelona for £65.4m

City's brass played hardball, sure. They swatted away two earlier Barcelona bids, first around £40m, then another at £55m. But eventually, for the third bite at the apple, they caved. With just a year left on Rodri's Manchester deal, Barca's relentless pursuit won out. As it always does.

Seven seasons. Four Premier League titles. A Champions League. Even a Ballon d'Or, for crying out loud. He cleaned up during his stint in England. Now he's gone.

Enzo Maresca, the City gaffer, certainly didn't downplay it. After getting humbled by Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield – a game Rodri sat out, fresh off minor back surgery and only back in training Friday – Maresca mused, "all teams need a player like Rodri." No kidding.

So, the cash is in. That £65.4m check means City can finally go hunting for some new blood in central midfield. Good, because they’ll need it. They already blew past the British transfer record this summer, snapping up Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a cool £116m. Maresca’s still got eyes for Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, who'd set them back £120m, and Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi. Problem is, City whiffed on Chelsea's Friday deadline for a formal bid on Fernandez. Sky Sports spilled the beans: City's pursuit of the Argentine hinged entirely on Rodri actually leaving. Convenient, that. Oh, and just to keep the merry-go-round spinning, City also offloaded midfielder Tijjani Reijnders to some Saudi Pro League outfit, Al Qadsiah, for a tidy £51m.