Manchester City and Real Madrid will be fancied by several fans and pundits alike to go far in the Champions League next season.
It could be argued that Pep Guardiola’s men have a reason to consider Xabi Alonso’s side as their European rivals, having faced them five times in the last six seasons in Europe’s elite competition.
After signing Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki, Manchester City could make more signings — with perhaps one of the Sky Blues’ aims being to perform better in Europe in the following campaign — having been knocked out of the tournament by Real Madrid in the playoff stage last season.
With Manchester City’s new signings impressing already, Pep Guardiola and Co could be a force to be reckoned with during the 2025/2026 season.
Real Madrid could avoid Rodri move after disappointing scouting mission
Rodri’s return from his ACL injury could be a huge boost for this Manchester City side as well, which would worry Real Madrid in their quest to win the Champions League next year.
However, Real Madrid planned to scout Rodri during the FIFA Club World Cup as they have held a longstanding interest in signing the Spaniard.
The blessing in disguise for Manchester City could be that the midfield maestro looked out of sorts at the tournament off the back of his return from an ACL injury, which may surely have impacted Los Blancos’ scouting mission.
With Rodri complaining about his injury in the lead-up to City’s defeat against Al-Hilal and looking quite rusty against Wydad AC as he lost the ball on several occasions and seemed slower than usual, Real Madrid might decide to pursue other targets due to the fear that he may no longer be the same player.
£62.5 million man Rodri starred against Juventus, which was the only game he started in as the Ballon d’Or winner did not have the seamless return from injury some may have foreseen.
How much Man City are willing to pay Rodri in new contract
However, the Sky Blues will be aware that they cannot afford to lose the 28-year-old anytime soon as he arguably remains their most important player.
What should concern Real Madrid is that Manchester City are set to increase Rodri’s wages to £300,000-a-week.
Currently, Rodri banks £220,000-a-week and while only time will tell whether he pens a new deal, an a pay rise of £80,000 would certainly tempt him to put pen to paper.
