@etihadintel "Real Madrid believe they are European royalty. Sheikh Mansour is actual royalty and his influence and financial might exponentially dwarfs el señor Pérez."
Real Madrid remain Manchester City's European nemesis. The relationship between the two clubs has been complex for some time. The Spanish club, led by Florentino Perez, sued Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubdala for 400 million euros over a proposed naming right deal for their redeveloped stadium, which subsequently collapsed.
Since that time, Khaldoon Al Mubarak has felt a strong antipathy towards Perez due to his conduct. In Abu Dhabi all business dealings come with a level of assumed respect and honesty. Perez showed neither, wasted time and money trying to sue Mubdala, and eventually lost.
The current situation as of yesterday evening remains that nobody from Rodri's camp or Real Madrid has contacted Manchester City. If and when they do a conversation will be had, but that conversation will be premised on the clear fact that Rodri is still contracted to Manchester City for another 12 months.
If the player shows any disrespect towards his club, the ramifications for him will not be pleasant. Real Madrid believe they are European royalty. Sheikh Mansour is actual royalty and his influence and financial might exponentially dwarfs el señor Pérez.
Luis de la Fuente: "With all due respect, and without wishing to offend anyone, doubting Rodri was, quite obviously, an insult to one's footballing intelligence.
"He's the best in the world in his position, bearing in mind we have Martín Zubimendi behind him, also one of the greats, surely second best in the world. But we knew we had to follow a process and meet deadlines we'd set. He [Rodri] grew stronger every match.
"The fact is, even at 50%, Rodri is better than a great many other players..." [via @rtve/@espn]