Barça sets a limit with Rodri and frees Ferran Torres

BarcelonaBarça continues to negotiate with Manchester City for the arrival of Rodri Hernández. With the conditions agreed with the Madrid midfielder for four seasons, the agreement with the English club is pending. After an initial proposal rejected for 50 million between fixed and variables, as ARA has learned, the new Blaugrana bet now rises to a ceiling of 65 million distributed in 55 fixed, 5 variables –easily met– in the form of games played and 5 that will depend on how many titles Rodri wins as a Barça player. The conversations 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 parallel, Barça is moving forward to sell Ferran Torres to Paris Saint-Germain for a minimum of 50 million euros between fixed and variable amounts. A key step will be taken this Wednesday in the training session planned with all available internationals in Sant Joan Despí. Hansi Flick will allow the Valencian not to train with his teammates while his departure is being finalized. This operation is also expected to be concluded 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 believes the move should have been made once Robert Lewandowski's departure was known, and the decisive goal in the World Cup final leads him to believe he deserves treatment that he will finally receive in Paris under Luis Enrique's orders.

Julián Álvarez, almost impossible

The other major operation that Barça is awaiting is Julián Álvarez. With the footballer back in dynamics with Atlético de Madrid, and awaiting his reunion this Wednesday with his coach, Diego Pablo Simeone, the situation is not encouraging for Barça's 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, Villarreal's forward. Last season he scored 13 goals in La Liga with Villarreal and has a similar mobile profile to Julián's. He will turn 26 in October, was acquired by the 'groguet' club last summer for 31 million euros and could change scenery again if Barça makes a strong bid for him.