Pep Guardiola and Xabi Alonso have the chance to alter European football forever with all-star swap deal
It’s been a quiet approach to the summer transfer window for both Manchester City and Real Madrid, who’ve kept themselves unusually far from the limelight despite both sides preparing to compete in the expanded Club World Cup in June and July.
Instead it’s been Liverpool and Arsenal hogging the headlines pursuing the likes of Florian Wirtz and Rodrygo while Tottenham, Manchester United, Newcastle and Everton also plot busy summers. However, if rumours are to be believed the 2023 and 2024 Champions League winners could be cooking up a clinically unhinged swap deal that would set the transfer market ablaze.
According to Defensacentral Real Madrid have approached Manchester City about buying Rodri which the Citizens rejected out of hand… unless Jude Bellingham can head the other way in a swap deal of biblical proportions.
The pair finished first and third in 2024 Ballon d’Or voting and would combine for an unprecedented swap deal that would blow Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic little tea party out of the water as the biggest of all time.
Ibrahimovic was eighth in voting in 2008 while Eto’o placed 17th so a Rodri-Bellingham swap would be without equal and completely change the course of arguably the two biggest leagues in world football. So could it work?
The case for a Rodri-Jude Bellingham transfer swap
Despite apparently thinking Rodri is such a bum that the only way he could beat Vinicius Junior to the Ballon d’Or is through outside interference from UEFA, Real Madrid see Rodri as the perfect replacement for Luka Modric who departs the Spanish capital this summer.
Voted La Liga’s worst signing of 2012, Modric went on to win 28 trophies with Real Madrid, end Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or duopoly and reach back-to-back World Cup finals and semi-finals for his national team.
Incidentally Alex Song placed second in that vote and lifted a La Liga and Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona before a disastrous loan spell at West Ham consigned him to following the money at Rubin Kazan, Sion and Djibouti Premier League club Arta/Solar7.
The fact Real Madrid think Rodri would be capable of filling Modric’s boots is high praise indeed, though the midfielder will be 29 by the time next season starts. Born in the Spanish capital, Rodri slipped under the radars of both Real and Atletico Madrid, instead coming through the ranks at Valencia before Diego Simeone brought him home for a season then sent him to Manchester for a healthy 250% profit.
Surely the humblest Ballon d’Or winner at least of the 21st century, Rodri has driven Manchester City to a treble before Pep Guardiola’s side fell apart when he was lost to injury for the 2024/25 season and his value at the Etihad was underlined by the Citizens’ response to Real Madrid’s interest.
Not Kylian Mbappe, not Vinicius, not Rodrygo, only Bellingham would do for a potential swap deal - a prospect Real Madrid aren’t exactly keen on. But they should be.
Real Madrid should listed to Man City demands
Incredibly, Bellingham will only be 22 when the 2025/26 campaign starts, so there’s obviously an age complication here.
However, Los Blancos know better than anyone how central midfielders age like fine wine after watching 38 and 34-year-old Modric and Toni Kroos construct one more Champions League win last season so provided Rodri’s return from injury goes as planned, he should have plenty more football left in him.
Meanwhile Bellingham still has his prime years ahead of him but there’s less of a guarantee he’ll stay world class into his 30s compared to Rodri just due to the nature of his position further up the pitch.
And most importantly, Rodri fills a desperate need at the Bernabeu. It’s been well documented how much Real Madrid struggled out of possession this season and Florentino Perez has responded by making his marquee signing a right-back who ranks in the bottom 8% of dribblers tackled against full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues and literally the lowest 1% of outright challenges lost in Trent Alexander-Arnold.
While Bellingham hasn’t been the weakest link in Real Madrid’s press this season, hopes that he could rediscover his success playing a deeper role for Borussia Dortmund have so far failed to materialise so Xabi Alonso needs to shake up his midfield.
Manchester City are clearly keen, as they can attempt to find a Rodri replacement without losing face, and revitalise an attacking unit that only has one established star in his 20s behind Erling Haaland.
The 2025 summer transfer window is already shaping up to be a blockbuster but this swap would take it to the next level, so over to you Xabi and Pep.
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