Barcelona AGREE £65.4million Rodri transfer hours after Enzo Maresca pleaded with Man City owners to make signings

BARCELONA have agreed a deal worth £65.4 million for Manchester City midfielder Rodri. The Catalan giants had seen previous bids for the 30-year-old former Ballon d’Or winner thrown out by the Prem club. Barcelona have agreed a deal with Man City to sign Rodri Credit: Getty It comes after Enzo Maresca’s team were hammered by Arsenal in the Community Shield Credit: Alamy However within a couple of hours of the final whistle in the Community Shield, they struck a verbal agreement which will see them pay around £51m upfront. And City are sure the add ons will take the fee they receive way beyond the £60m mark. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! They believe it is a good deal for Rodri who has just 10 months left on his deal and has struggled with injuries over the last two years. Maresca said in Cardiff that his team need new signings as quickly as possible after they were well beaten by Arsenal. And they will step up the hunt for a new holding midfielder with Rodri’s move to Spain now set to be finalised in the next 48 hours. A move for Morocco World Cup star Ayyoub Bouaddi is advanced with Lille demanding around £85 million for the teen ace. However they will look for a direct replacement for Rodri who has spent the last seven years at the club and scored the winner in the Champions League final in 2023. Record signing Elliot Anderson is the only new face likely to feature regularly for the first team and Maresca says there is still work to be done on the squad. Most read in Sport Despite the big money spent on Elliot Anderson, Maresca wants more in his midfield Credit: Getty BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS The ex-Chelsea boss said: “With any new signing, the sooner they arrive the better because we are starting the Premier League in one week. “If they start to work with us as soon as possible it’s better that they can also understand the way we want to play. “We knew already before the game of the things that we need to do. “It’s not because we lost the game or even if we had won the game to think differently. “We are quite clear in what we need to do and for sure we are going to do something before the window closes.” There was no sign of Rodri in South Wales as talks with Barcelona continued and his absence sparked speculation a deal could be close. The City boss said: “Rodri is a player who just won the World Cup and Ballon d’Or. He’s a top player, all the teams need Rodri so it’s not about if we miss him or not. “The ones that played today – Elliot was quite good on his first game.” There was also a first City appearance in 15 months for England international Jack Grealish who came on as a second half sub. The ex Aston Villa captain is still expected to leave this month but Maresca said: “Overall I think Jack was good. “The ones that are still here and want to work every day and if they deserve they’re going to get minutes.” Skipper Ruben Dias admitted his team will need time to get used to life under the new boss after 10 years of playing for Pep Guardiola. The Portugal international said: “The feeling is there’s a lot of work to put in. It’s part of any transition for things to be not so perfect in the beginning. “You need to push through, you need to communicate, and make things work between us. I feel we’re in a very good way, but we need to keep on working. “There’s going to be lots of challenges along the way.” Comment now