Maddening Rodri transfer snub a bitter blow for Madrid
In what will go down as a transfer hijacking for the ages, Manchester City's midfield maestro Rodri has sensationally chosen a move to Barcelona over a switch to Real Madrid and a return to his home city.
Madrid were thought to hold the edge in the pursuit of the player, believing they would find an agreement after reigniting their long-standing interest following the 30-year-old's exceptional World Cup displays for Spain.
However, after two weeks of silence, Barcelona have pounced, and Rodri is now destined for Camp Nou instead of the Bernabeu for what is likely to be a cut-price fee in light of the fact he is into the final year of his contract at the Etihad. This is a crushing blow to Madrid and their infamously inflated ego.
Golden opportunity
It is not every day that the opportunity arises to land the best defensive midfielder on the planet and one of your country's finest players, and especially not when the conditions are as favourable as they could be in Rodri's case. That's clearly something the two teams on either side of the Clasico divide were acutely aware of.
While they are still holding onto the slim hope that he will sign a new contract, the latest reports suggest Man City are willing to accept as little as £60 million ($81m) to let the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner leave this summer, hamstrung by the fact that one of their prized assets has already entered the final 12 months of his current deal.
The 30-year-old has openly flirted with a return to Spain in recent months, and you can't really blame him for feeling as though he is running out of reasons to hang around in Manchester. Pep Guardiola's seismic exit has brought an era to an end at the Etihad, and - just as was the case for the likes of John Stones and Bernardo Silva - there is an inescapable sense that this would be the natural time for the Spaniard to depart.
At his age, Rodri will feel he still has two or three years left at the highest level, if he can stay fit and use his infinite game intelligence to remain as influential as possible on the pitch.