Rodri's Barcelona Move Confirmed: He Wants Number 16

Rodri’s Barcelona move is all but done – and he already knows the number he wants on his back.

Barcelona have reached a full agreement with Manchester City to bring the Spain midfielder to Catalonia, with the official announcement expected within hours. The deal is set at 60 million euros fixed, plus a further 16 million tied to incentives and variables, a package that underlines just how highly the club value him at the heart of their new project.

Rodri will sign a four-year contract and earn more than 13 million euros net per season. That salary immediately places him among the highest-paid players in the squad, a financial statement that matches the sporting one.

But before any photos in blaugrana hit the club’s channels, one detail has already been settled behind the scenes: the shirt number.

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Rodri asked Fermin Lopez to give up the number 16 shirt, the number he has worn consistently for Manchester City and the Spanish national team. It is the shirt that has followed him through the defining years of his career, and he wants it to travel with him to the Spotify Camp Nou.

The request was granted. Fermin Lopez has agreed to switch numbers and is preparing to take on the number 7 shirt instead, a change Romano also reported via his account on X. That decision clears the way for Rodri to keep his familiar 16 in Barcelona colours.

The club are expected to confirm his number as part of the official unveiling. All signs point in one direction: Rodri, in the centre of Barcelona’s midfield, wearing 16 again – only this time at the Spotify Camp Nou, with a new era resting on his shoulders.