Manchester City are set to make their first signing of the summer transfer window, and it’s going to be a record breaking one. Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez, also known as Rodri, will cost the club £63 million (€70m), and that amount will break the club’s transfer release clause due expense record. The current record belongs to Riyad Mahrez, City’s lone acquisition from Leicester City 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. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has beaten his most recent former club, Bayern Munich, to the punch on this one.
The Bavarian giants have been all in on Rodri, but according to ESPN, the 23-year-old has now “opted to accept the offer from City.” Spanish outlet El País, via SB Nation’s Bavarian Football Works, has more on Bayern’s strong pursuit of the player.
Rodri is reportedly expected to provide competition and then become the eventual successor to Fernandinho, 34, who was injury prone last season. Guardiola was in Barcelona for a charity event, where he was asked about the club’s transfer plans. “No idea, we’ll see,” the Spaniard is quoted by Mundo Deportivo.
Defensive midfielders and centre backs are regarded to be the club’s top transfer priorities this summer, with Leicester City central defender Harry Maguire seen as a potential replacement to Vincent Kompany.
City could back to the Leicester well again this summer, but in order to do so, they’ll have to outspend their intra-city rivals for Maguire as United are also keen on the 26-year-old Englishman.
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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