Rodri ‘can’t rule out the best clubs in the world’ as Manchester City midfielder open to future Real Madrid transfer

Rodri spent the 2018/19 season with Atletico, before City swooped to lure the Spanish midfielder to England, where he has gone on to win four Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League.

Asked if his Atletico links could prevent him ever turning out for Los Blancos, Rodri said: “There have been a lot of players who have taken that path.

Above all, when they’ve not done it directly, but over time. 

“For me, you can’t rule out the best clubs in the world. I would like to return [to La Liga] yes, of course. For me, La Liga is where I started. I still follow it, not as much as before, but I still follow it.

“But right now, I am very happy here. I have one year left on my contract [at Manchester City]. There will come a point when we’ll have to sit down and talk.”

Rodri restores Man City advantage with huge goal in title race

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These will not be words warmly welcomed by Pep Guardiola and anyone associated with Manchester City, who are just starting to see the best of Rodri once again, after a long time out injured.

He missed the majority of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Looking back on that period, Rodri said: “If I had to choose a moment when it happened to me, perhaps I would have chosen when it happened. It was good for me to rest, to slow down.

“Mentally, there was a lot of wear and tear. It has allowed me to recharge my batteries and come back with tremendous enthusiasm.

“This season I don’t have as many minutes on the pitch, and I’m coming back much fresher.”

“I decided to take some time off, stop and prepare myself well, knowing that the decisive part of the season was going to be from January onwards,” he added.

“So far it’s going well. I feel like I’m back to being the Rodri we all want.”

Important to ‘show that we can beat them’ says Rodri of Man City’s win over Arsenal

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European champions Spain will be hoping to add to their trophy cabinet this summer when they head to the World Cup as one of the tournament favourites. 

Rodri thinks, with Luis de la Fuente in charge, the world’s top-ranked side are more than capable of going all the way in North America.

“We’re going to win,” said Rodri with confidence.

“Since he [De la Fuente] arrived, we’ve had a very clear objective: to treat every match like a final. We gradually demonstrated our potential. 

“The key is to have a team that is constantly improving, constantly striving for more. I’m convinced that Spain will be there.”