Manchester City look set for a busy end to the transfer window with three attackers potentially leaving and new links with a Real Madrid superstar.
Jack Grealish is all set to join Everton on loan, while Tottenham have made a move to sign Savinho. TBR Football understand Manchester City are reluctant to sell Savinho, but the club never stand in the way of a want-away player if their asking price is met.
James McAtee is moving closer to a permanent transfer to Nottingham Forest, with the three possible exits freeing up wages and generating as much as £100m depending on how much City earn from Savinho and McAtee.
Manchester City v Real Madrid C.F. - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off First Leg
Photo by Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
As a result, City are now linked with Real Madrid winger Rodrygo, who could cost around the £100m mark but may be free to leave the Bernabeu this summer.
Pep Guardiola is a huge fan of Rodrygo after struggling to stop him
After Rodrygo scored twice against City to knock them out of the Champions League in the 2022 semi-finals, Pep Guardiola hatched a plan to overcome Real Madrid when the sides faced the following year.
City blew Real away with a 4-0 demolition at the Etihad Stadium as they went on to win the Champions League, but Rodrygo would star in 2024 with goals in each leg of the quarter-finals that Real Madrid won on penalties.
After beating City in 2024, Rodrygo called the Blues: “the best team in the world, the one that plays the best football.” And prior to their 2025 play-off clash, he added that “every team that comes here [to the Etihad] suffers because of their characteristics.”
Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes caches a ball in the Champions League match against Arsenal
Photo by Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images
Guardiola specifically praised Rodrygo in the build-up to that game, saying it was ‘impossible’ to ‘control these four players’ – referring to the quartet of Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.
Pep Guardiola praise for Rodrygo offers hint if he joined Man City
Guardiola talked up Real Madrid’s interchanging front line as one of their greatest threats, so he could perhaps look to replicate that at Manchester City if Rodrygo was to join.
Rodrygo operates mostly off the left-wing where a vacancy could have now opened up should Grealish and Savinho depart.
Games 9
Wins 4
Draws 2
Defeats 3
Goals 4
Assists 2
Rodrygo record against Manchester City. (Source: Transfermarkt)
He would have to battle Jeremy Doku on City’s left, with Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden, Omar Marmoush and Oscar Bobb also vying for game time behind Erling Haaland.
So if Rodrygo does sign, it’s clear to see how he could slot into Pep Guardiola’s rotational approach at City.