Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and manager Jose Mourinho are reported to be deeply frustrated after Manchester City star Rodri rejected a move to the Spanish club before later reaching an agreement with Barcelona.
The latest account of the saga contrasts with earlier reports that Real Madrid had accepted the player’s decision calmly and without significant concern. The competing versions have offered different interpretations of how the club reacted after losing out on Rodri.
Foot Mercato, citing AS, previously reported that Real Madrid understood and respected Rodri’s choice. According to that account, the club wished the Spain international well as he pursued the path he had selected.
However, SPORT has now presented a markedly different version of events. The newspaper says Perez and Mourinho were both extremely angry after Real Madrid failed to complete a deal for the player.
Perez’s frustration is said to have centred on a transfer he regarded as effectively certain to happen. The report claims the club president had been persuaded by two trusted figures within Real Madrid, Jose Angel Sanchez and Juni Calafat, that the move was within the club’s grasp.
The failure to secure Rodri subsequently made the disappointment particularly severe. SPORT’s account suggests that Perez was not simply unhappy that the player had chosen another destination, but was angered because the deal had been considered settled before it ultimately fell through.
Mourinho’s reaction was described as equally intense. The report says the manager experienced “huge anger” when he learned that Real Madrid had lost the opportunity to sign Rodri.
That portrayal is significantly less restrained than the earlier narrative attributed to AS. In that version, Real Madrid’s position was one of understanding and respect, with the club accepting Rodri’s decision and offering its best wishes for the next stage of his career.
The new report instead depicts a senior leadership team angered by the outcome, with both the president and manager reacting strongly to the player’s decision to join Barcelona after turning down Real Madrid.
The disagreement between the two accounts leaves the response inside Real Madrid open to interpretation. While one report described a club prepared to move on without resentment, the other claimed that the move had caused serious irritation at the highest levels.
What is consistent in both versions is the sequence of events: Rodri declined Real Madrid, later reached an agreement with Barcelona and left the Madrid club without a transfer it had expected to complete.
For Perez, the disappointment was reportedly linked to the belief that the deal had been secured through the assurances of Sanchez and Calafat. For Mourinho, the reaction came when he was informed that Real Madrid had failed to land the player.
The contrasting reports have therefore created a new narrative around Rodri’s decision, placing the focus not only on his choice of Barcelona over Real Madrid but also on the differing accounts of how the Spanish club responded.
