Rodri\u2019s recent comments have made a transfer question unavoidable, but Real Madrid appear cautious. \u201cYou can\u2019t turn down one of the world\u2019s best clubs,\u201d he bluntly admitted this week . \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if they arrive at the match in a good or bad moment, Real Madrid is always Real Madrid. The door is not closed.\u201d From the player\u2019s perspective the route is open, yet multiple reports in England and Spain suggest the club are not pressing to answer the invitation.<\/p>\n
Spanish sports daily AS say the 2024 Ballon d\u2019Or winner \u201cdoes not feature in the club\u2019s future plans.\u201d The Times report that interest has \u201ccooled\u201d at the Bernab\u00e9u. Sources point to fitness and recruitment profile as the main explanations: Rodri suffered an ACL tear in September 2024 and, while he has returned to sustained action in 2026, concerns linger in Madrid.<\/p>\n
The statistical contrast in availability before and after the ACL injury is stark. Days missed through injury rose from 64 to 107, with the percentage of days missed moving from 3.4% to 34%. Games missed climbed from 7 to 21, changing the % games missed from 2.3% to 38%. The midfielder has, however, started nine consecutive Premier League matches and featured in last weekend\u2019s triumphant Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.<\/p>\n
AS note Rodri is \u201chighly respected\u201d internally and that past friction with Vinicius Junior has been relegated to the past; both players shared an embrace after City and Madrid met in the Champions League. Still, that admiration \u201cdoesn’t go far enough\u201d to make him the priority signing over other profiles Madrid covet. The club are reportedly seeking a \u201ccentrocampista\u201d who can do more than sit in front of the defence.<\/p>\n
Historical caution is also part of the club\u2019s mindset. When Jorge Valdano was sporting director he warned that three in five transfers are failures, a note Madrid appear to take seriously as they attempt to replace Toni Kroos. Names linked in reports include Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Bruno Guimar\u00e3es and Angelo Stiller, with differing profiles and age points guiding Madrid\u2019s calculus. Frank Lampard\u2019s comment on Fern\u00e1ndez is recalled: \u201cHe is the most natural six out of a midfield which doesn\u2019t have so many natural sixes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Madrid cautious over Rodri: fitness worries, age and profile doubts despite respect shown in 2026 ..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1056,987,1163],"tags":[1073,1064,1066],"class_list":["post-9889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-city","category-real-madrid","category-transfers","tag-acl-injury","tag-ballon-dor-2","tag-carabao-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}