English Premier League
Barcelona target Rodri after Hansi Flick highlights need for leaders
Barcelona have made Manchester City midfielder Rodri their leading target for the summer 2026 transfer window after receiving the Spain international’s approval for a move, according to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
The Catalan club’s interest reflects manager Hansi Flick’s assessment that his squad needs greater leadership on the pitch as it attempts to compete for the biggest honours.
Barcelona are understood to have begun work on the potential transfer after receiving the green light from Rodri. That was considered an important first step before opening negotiations with Manchester City over the player, who scored the winning goal in the 2024 Champions League final to secure the English club’s only title in the competition’s history.
Rodri’s possible arrival would add further quality to a Barcelona midfield that already contains a group regarded as one of the strongest and deepest in world football. However, Flick’s public comments in April have given the pursuit an added significance.
On 21 April, on the eve of Barcelona’s La Liga meeting with Celta Vigo at Spotify Camp Nou, Flick said he still dreamed of “winning the Champions League with Barcelona”.
Asked what his squad needed to improve enough to fulfil that ambition, the German manager replied: “We need players who have leadership qualities on the pitch.”
Flick also spoke at length during the same news conference about the value of strong personalities within the dressing room. He referred to a player who had left Barcelona at the beginning of that season, saying: “Last season we had Inigo, and he was a great leader… and we learned.”
He added, while discussing the decisive matches that determine a team’s fate in the Champions League: “In these kinds of matches, mentality and details also play an important role.”
Without going into specific transfer plans or predicting what might happen in the market, Flick said: “We have to make the right decisions in the transfer market, without doing anything crazy.”
The manager also stressed that Barcelona already possessed “potential to improve and a good structure”. But his remarks about the need for leadership, which did not appear to be a passing comment at the time, now appear more significant as Rodri becomes a prominent target for the club.
Rodri’s performances at the most recent World Cup, where he was selected as the best player in Spain’s team after it won the tournament, represented a major test of the midfielder’s condition following his recovery from a serious injury.
The 30-year-old’s form and experience are seen as central to Barcelona’s interest, with the club looking for players capable of influencing crucial matches as well as improving the balance of the squad.
Barcelona’s transfer plans also include the search for a recognised centre-forward. Their preferred candidate for that position is Julian Alvarez, although the club is still waiting to see how that pursuit develops.
Flick’s comments last spring about the need for leaders in the dressing room of a team seeking to challenge for every trophy therefore fit closely with Barcelona’s interest in Rodri. The manager has also been involved in the attempt to convince the midfielder of the importance of his role in the club’s project.
