Rodri Reveals Reasons for Choosing Barcelona Over Real Madrid
Real Madrid thought they had him. For much of the summer, inside the club there was quiet confidence that Rodri would walk into the Bernabeu and anchor their midfield for the next decade. Instead, he crossed the divide and signed for Barcelona, turning one of the window’s longest-running pursuits into a painful miss for Los Blancos.
Now, in an interview with MD, the midfielder has finally laid out why.
“Saying no to Madrid is not easy”
Rodri painted a picture of a summer that was anything but a holiday.
"The first thing I have to say is that I would have liked it to have been two or three weeks of quiet vacation and they were not at all," he admitted. Every day brought calls, meetings, and decisions. Two of the biggest clubs in the world wanted him, and the weight of that choice followed him everywhere.
"Many things had to be analysed, and such an important decision had to be made with two of the best clubs in the world," he said. The battle quickly became clear: Real Madrid on one side, Barcelona on the other.
In the end, he insists, the choice came down to football.
"I made a decision on the sporting level, so it gave me a little more desire and to understand where I could win and grow more as a player," Rodri explained. No mention of politics. No mention of noise around the move. Just a calculation of where his game could reach its highest ceiling.
"It was not an easy decision at all, saying no to Madrid is not easy, and above all that, they behaved exemplarily with me. In the end, Deco and Hansi convinced me."
That last line cuts straight to the heart of it. Sporting director Deco and coach Hansi Flick sold him on the Barcelona project. Their vision tipped the scales where Madrid, despite being favourites for much of the window, could not.
Mourinho’s role – and the call after the rejection
On the other side of the saga stood Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid head coach, who pushed hard to bring Rodri to the capital.
Rodri didn’t reveal the full content of their talks, but he made it clear the Portuguese coach did everything he could.
"I don't think it's his thing to reveal a private conversation, but he obviously expressed his desire for me to join, and he told me what I could bring to the team," Rodri said. Mourinho outlined his role, his importance, his fit in Madrid’s structure. The message was clear: you’re wanted, and you’re central.
"The treatment was very good," Rodri added. Respect ran both ways. So much so that once he had chosen Barcelona, he picked up the phone.
"When I made the decision, I also called him to thank him for his interest and treatment. I think he's a great coach, he's already shown it wherever he's gone in his great stages and Real Madrid are going to be a tough opponent for this league."
No bitterness. No bridge burned. Just a major signing that slipped through Madrid’s fingers and landed in the hands of their greatest rivals.
Ballon d'Or boycott “not a factor”
One storyline around Rodri in recent months has been Real Madrid’s decision to boycott his 2024 Ballon d'Or victory. The club’s stance drew plenty of attention and inevitably fuelled speculation about whether that episode soured relations behind the scenes.
Rodri shut that down. He made it very clear that Madrid’s Ballon d'Or boycott played no part in his decision to join Barcelona. For him, this was about football, growth, and the project laid out by Deco and Hansi Flick.
Madrid tried. Mourinho pushed. The club behaved “exemplarily,” as Rodri himself stressed. But when the dust settled on a chaotic summer, the midfielder chose the Camp Nou – and turned a transfer battle into a storyline that will echo through every Clásico this season.
