New Delhi, July 30 -- MADRID - The call from Paris came. So did the one from Barcelona. Rodri heard both out and said no. When Real Madrid reached out, the answer was different. That shift has placed one of European football's most consequential summer negotiations on a collision course between two clubs with no particular reason to make each other's summer easy.

The Spain midfielder, who anchored Manchester City's four consecutive Premier League title runs and won the Ballon d'Or in 2024, has identified the Santiago Bernabeu as his next destination, according to Goal.com. Real Madrid have opened formal talks with Manchester City. Those talks have run into what multiple reports describe only as a "serious problem," with neither side prep...