Rodri's move to Real Madrid is almost off! Barcelona has officially contacted Manchester City, and the decision now lies with the player.

The transfer landscape changes rapidly, and this is absolutely true. The events unfolding at Real Madrid in recent days are a clear example. Originally, outsiders thought Vinícius Jr. was almost certain to move to Arsenal for a bigger paycheck, but the latest reports have brought a surprising twist.

According to Real Madrid beat reporter Ramón Álvarez de Mon, Vinícius Jr. has reached an agreement with Real Madrid on a contract extension, and it is expected to be signed soon. ESPN also confirmed that substantive progress was made in Wednesday's talks, with Real Madrid improving their offer again, increasing both the fixed salary and performance bonuses.

In addition, Real Madrid has reached an agreement with RB Leipzig for the transfer of Diomande, with a total fee of 140 million euros. This is another deal that can be expected to be officially announced soon.

However, the deal that was previously considered the most straightforward has taken a sharp reversal!

According to the latest report from Diario Sport, negotiations for Rodri's move to Real Madrid have actually broken down due to a lack of agreement. In the past few hours, the situation has taken a sudden turn, and unless Real Madrid makes a major effort, it will be difficult to revive the deal.

This is not the biggest blow for Real Madrid; even more devastating news followed. Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Barcelona has officially entered the race for Rodri. The journalist stated: "Barcelona has made contact with Rodri's team and Manchester City regarding a possible transfer. Real Madrid has been negotiating with Manchester City for weeks, but City did not agree to proceed immediately because they felt more clubs were joining the competition. The final decision lies with the player."

A transfer saga that has lasted nearly a month has taken its most dramatic turn in early August.

Before this, there was no doubt that Rodri wanted to leave Manchester City, and his desire to join Real Madrid was clear. But the problem lies with Real Madrid, as their sincerity seems insufficient!

According to Diario Sport, Rodri was originally willing to sign a four-year contract, but Real Madrid's final offer "did not convince him," leading to tense negotiations and the transfer being frozen.

So what is the disagreement between the two sides? Multiple sources point to one word: money!

According to Spanish radio station COPE, Manchester City's asking price for Rodri is 80 million euros, but Real Madrid is only willing to offer a maximum of 50 million euros, a gap of 30 million euros! In addition to the transfer fee, Rodri's salary demands after winning the Ballon d'Or are also extremely high. Real Madrid needs to meet both City's high price and the player's high personal terms, which has led them to hit the pause button.

Real Madrid's concerns are actually understandable. For Florentino Pérez, Rodri was never a priority target. He prefers to invest heavily in young players rather than in a 30-year-old "veteran" like Rodri. This explains why Real Madrid was willing to spend 140 million on 19-year-old Diomande.

In addition, Real Madrid also needs to convince Vinícius Jr. to renew his contract, which requires some concessions in salary. Although it won't reach Mbappé's level of 30 million, it will be around 25 million. There will also be concessions on the percentage of image rights and signing bonuses. Therefore, having spent heavily on these two players, the amount left for Rodri is naturally smaller.

Moreover, Florentino Pérez has always had doubts about Rodri because Rodri appeared in the campaign material of his electoral opponent Enrique Riquelme. In other words, Rodri was passively positioned against Florentino. From the perspective of the Real Madrid president, he is not "one of us."

Just at this critical moment, Barcelona actually intervened, while the outside world had initially thought this was a tactic by Manchester City to drive up the price.

So does Barcelona's midfield still need Rodri? The answer is yes, as De Jong's injury has increased this need. Moreover, Rodri is the captain of the Spanish national team, and he has won the World Cup alongside several Barcelona players, so their chemistry is "innate."

Therefore, Rodri now faces a difficult choice, as he has always considered Real Madrid as his preferred destination. He rejected Manchester City's renewal offer and also turned down an invitation from Paris, focusing solely on joining Real Madrid.

Now Barcelona stands before him, offering the chance to partner with Pedri and Olmo in midfield, with Yamal and Ferran Torres in attack and Cubarsi in defense. The temptation is equally strong. We'll have to wait and see how he chooses.