Barça sets a limit with Rodri and releases Ferran Torres

BarcelonaBarça continues negotiating with Manchester City for the arrival of Rodri Hernández. With the terms agreed with the Madrid midfielder for four seasons, an agreement with the English club is still pending. After an initial offer of 50 million in fixed and variable amounts was rejected, as ARA has learned, the new Blaugrana bid now amounts to a maximum of 65 million, distributed as 55 million fixed, 5 million variable – easily achievable – in the form of matches played, and 5 that will depend on how many titles Rodri wins as a Barça player. In effect, then, the guaranteed amount would rise to 60 million. The talks between the parties are led by Alejandro Echevarría and Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco, from Barça and Ferran Soriano and Hugo Viana from City. There is optimism to close the operation before the end of the week, although Rodri is injured in the back and would not debut in the short term with his new team. In any case, the player is scheduled to report this Friday to begin pre-season training under Enzo Maresca, the new citizen coach.

In parallel, Barça is advancing to sell Ferran Torres to Paris Saint-Germain for a minimum of 50 million euros between fixed and variable amounts. A key step is taking place this Wednesday in the training session planned with all available internationals at Sant Joan Despí. Hansi Flick has allowed the Valencian player not to train with his teammates while his departure is being finalized. It is also expected that this operation could be closed in the coming hours. Ferran's contract ends on June 30, 2027, and he has not wanted to wait for a firm offer from Barça in September to renew it. He considers that the move should have been made weeks ago, once Robert Lewandowski's departure was known. On the other hand, the decisive goal in the World Cup final leads him to believe that he deserves a treatment that he will finally receive in Paris under the orders of Luis Enrique. At the Parc des Princes, the Valencian attacker will compete with names as important as Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, or Desiré Doué.

Julián Álvarez, almost impossible

The other major operation that Barça is waiting for is Julián Álvarez. With the Argentine footballer back in dynamics with Atlético de Madrid, and having reunited with his coach, Diego Pablo Simeone, the situation remains discouraging for the Barça interests. Quite the opposite: the repeated refusal from the Mattress makers, also reinforced by the Apollo fund —the club's main shareholder—, forces Deco to explore alternatives to strengthen the attack. In this regard, one of the players that the Barça sporting director likes the most is Georges Mikautadze, a Villarreal forward. Last season he scored 13 goals in La Liga and has a very similar mobile profile to Julián's. He will turn 26 in October, was acquired by the Yellow Submarine club last summer for 31 million euros and could change scenery again if Barça makes a strong bet on him. However, Barça has not yet officially thrown in the towel for its number one objective since the beginning of the transfer window. The B options for Julián are still on hold.

On the other hand, the Barça sporting management had to explain future plans this Wednesday to the representatives of Marc Bernal, who presented themselves at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. The midfielder from Berguedà is in doubt about his role with Rodri's arrival and needed to feel that he is counted on to continue growing this season. The message is that Flick does not want him to leave and prioritizes him over other homegrown midfielders like Marc Casadó and Tommy Marquès, who will pack their bags in the coming days. Bernal will be important at the start of this season, as Pedri, Dani Olmo, and Gavi are coming from playing the World Cup final, Frenkie de Jong will be injured for months, and Rodri, once his signing is confirmed, will not be able to debut until well into September.