Man City are on the verge of making their most expensive signing ever after activating Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodri’s release clause. City’s representatives paid the Spanish star’s £62.8m release fee (approximately 70 million euros), which eclipses the £60m that the club paid Leicester for Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez last summer.
City have searched long and hard for a Fernandinho replacement, making unsuccessful attempts to bring the likes of Fred, Jorginho and even Frenkie de Jong to the Etihad Stadium in the last 18 months. Guardiola has made no secret of his desire to bring in a defensive minded midfielder and Rodri, touted to be Sergio Busquet’s heir, is set to fill that gap.
Rodri only moved to Atleti from Villarreal last summer, but swiftly became a key cog in Diego Simeone’s system, making a total of 47 appearances across all competitions for Los Colchoneros last season.
City have also completed the re-signing of PSV left back Angelino, using a buyback clause in the latter’s contract to get their former academy product home. The 22 year old is expected to compete with Oleksandr Zinchenko for the left back spot at left back, with Benjamin Mendy set for an extended spell on the sidelines recovering from his knee injury.
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