José Mourinho was up to his old tricks by spinning the narrative in Real Madrid’s favor when probed on the awkward topic of missing out on Rodri to Barcelona. Rather than a cut-and-dried case of Los Blancos being bested by their fiercest Clásico rivals, Mourinho claimed he was the one who had “doubts” over Rodri, rather than the other way around.
Rodri had been linked with Real Madrid for months. The former Manchester City midfielder’s own comments on this topic did nothing to dampen the speculation which ramped up in the aftermath of his stellar World Cup. However, in a surprise twist, it was Barcelona who raced to the front of the queue, elbowing Madrid out of the way before agreeing an eye-watering $87.8 million (€76.5 million at the time) fee for the 30-year-old.
