It was an extremely busy news day for Manchester City as they 1.) broke the club transfer fee record to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez, also known as Rodri and 2.) announced the re-singing of right back Angelino from PSV Eindhoven.
We’ll start with Rodri, as City paid £62.8 million (70 million Euros) to terminate his Atletico contract, which was set to run until June 2023. The amount just eclipses the previous top mark, the £60m paid to Leicester City for Riyad Mahrez last year.
By Euros, this amount will place him within the top 25 most expensive players in history. By pounds, he would rank within the top 20.
Rodri joined Atletico in May 2018 after spending three years with Villarreal. This past season, he made 34 league appearances for the La Liga runners-up. City Manager Pep Guardiola beat his last former team, Bayern Munich, to the punch on Rodri.
Moving over to Angelino, City announced that he was coming back from the Dutch Eredivisie in a press release earlier today. The 22-year-old left the Etihad last summer and starred for the Dutch top flight runners-up. City re-signed him for a transfer fee of £5.3 million.
“I am thrilled to have re-joined City, a side playing incredible football under Pep Guardiola,” reads the club statement attributed to Angelino.
“Watching them while playing in Holland has been a pleasure. City’s performances over the last two seasons have been incredible and I am very excited about returning and hopefully contributing to the Club’s bid for more success.”
“I believe my own game can develop under Pep’s management and I am very confident that the Club will go from strength to strength over the next few years. The style of football we play here excites me, and I am determined to win more silverware. City gives me the best chance of doing that.”
Angelino signs a four year contract that will run until June 2023.
The statement attributed to City Director of Football Txiki Begiristain reads:
“Angelino is a hugely talented young player and is an accomplished defender with great potential. “Over the past year, he has gained excellent experience playing in the Eredivisie and the Champions League with PSV Eindhoven.”
“We’re sure that he will bring additional defensive quality to our squad.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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