Rodri completes Barcelona move as Man City pursue replacement

Barcelona confirm signing of Rodri from Manchester City in deal worth £65.4m; the Spain midfielder has signed a four-year contract with the LaLiga club; City in talks to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi and remain interested in Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez

Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Rodri from Manchester City in a deal worth £65.4m.

The Spain World Cup winner and former Ballon d'Or winner, who helped City win four Premier League titles and a Champions League crown, has signed a four-year contract with the LaLiga club.

Rodri, 30, had one year left on his City contract and, while they wanted him to stay and sign an extension, Barcelona's third offer proved to be too good to turn down.

Barcelona had bids of £40m and £55m rejected by City before the deal was eventually agreed.

Enzo Maresca's side are pursuing replacements for both Rodri and Tijjani Reijnders , who is set to join Saudi Arabian side Al Qadsiah for around £51m.

City remain interested in Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez , despite missing the deadline to launch a bid by 5pm on August 14, and are also in talks with Lille over a deal for Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi .

Lille are understood to be looking for around £85m to sell Bouaddi and talks between the clubs were confirmed by their head coach Davide Ancelotti at the weekend.

City's record without Rodri in the starting line-up since his arrival from Atletico Madrid ahead of the 2019/20 season offers a worrying insight into life minus him in the midfield.

In the 87 games when he was absent from the starting line-up, they suffered 20 defeats, just one fewer than their tally of losses across the 179 games with him starting. In fact, the rate at which they suffered defeats doubled without him starting.

The win percentage without him dropped to 62.1 per cent from 71.5 per cent, while goals scored decreased and goals conceded increased.

City are simply not the same team without Rodri featuring and the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield was the latest example of this.

Rodri has penned a farewell letter to Man City fans after his departure to Barcelona was confirmed.

"Dear City fans, I found that saying goodbye is one of the most difficult things in life but I am going to try," it said, on the club's official website.