Follow Mike_ThePundit on X for more expert analysis.
Real Madrid went two consecutive seasons without winning a major trophy, after ending the 2025/26 season trophyless.
For a club that has made winning almost a requirement rather than an ambition, the 2025-26 season ended with very little to celebrate. What had started with optimism eventually unravelled, leaving Madrid looking for something, anything, to make sense of a campaign that had promised much more.
The most beautiful thing Madrid got to celebrate from the season was individual rather than collective. Kylian Mbappe finished as La Liga’s Pichichi and the Champions League’s top scorer. The Frenchman had delivered the goals expected of him, but even his remarkable numbers could not disguise what had happened to the team around him.
? ??? ??????? ????
— Bet9ja: The home of #betBOOM! ? (@Bet9jaOfficial) August 11, 2026
Winning betting tips from the best verified tipsters around!
The project with Xabi Alonso had appeared to be heading somewhere.
Then it stopped.
Alonso’s appointment had represented another attempt to build a new Madrid around a younger generation, with the former midfielder returning to the club as one of Europe’s most admired coaches. But whatever promise existed at the beginning of the project quickly became overshadowed by problems away from the pitch and growing friction inside the club.
The results, at least initially, were not bad enough to explain everything.
The relationship was.
By January, Madrid had turned to Álvaro Arbeloa, promoting him from Real Madrid Castilla to take charge of the first team. What followed was an even steeper decline. A side that had looked capable of competing for the title slowly disappeared from the race, while Barcelona took control and eventually cruised to the league title. Madrid went from being genuine contenders to watching the season become a procession.
It was an extraordinary collapse.
And before the season had even formally ended, the decision had already been made that Arbeloa would leave. Real Madrid confirmed his departure on June 9.
Then came the election.
Florentino Pérez called for a presidential vote at a moment when the club’s sporting direction had become increasingly difficult to defend. It was the first contested presidential election at Madrid in two decades, and Pérez emerged victorious, defeating Enrique Riquelme with 65 per cent of the vote. He was subsequently proclaimed president until 2030.
Pérez’s answer to the crisis was familiar.
José Mourinho.
The Portuguese returned to the Bernabéu with the task of restoring order to a club that had lost its way. Madrid have since moved aggressively in the transfer market, bringing in players including Yan Diomandé, Marc Cucurella, Carlos Espí, Denzel Dumfries, Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konaté.
There is a sense that Madrid are trying to rebuild quickly.
But one player they are unable to get yet is the one they could eventually regret missing most. Rodri.
After Rodri led Spain to World Cup victory, Madrid’s interest in the Manchester City midfielder became clear. The club saw an opportunity to bring one of the best midfielders in the world back to Spain and, perhaps more importantly, add a player whose qualities fit one of the most obvious needs in their squad.
But Barcelona have entered the picture.
And according to recent reporting, Rodri is open to joining Barcelona. Manchester City have already rejected Barcelona’s opening bid, while the player is reportedly favouring a move to Camp Nou.
That is where this becomes uncomfortable for Madrid.
Because losing Rodri to Barcelona would not simply mean missing out on a great midfielder.
It would mean allowing their biggest rival to sign the exact profile of a player they have been missing for the past couple of years.
Rodri is different from the midfielders already at Madrid.
He looks like the closest thing to giving Madrid fans what Kroos and Modric provided before they eventually left.
Rodri brings control. He knows how to read the game, gives the team balance and helps maintain its defensive structure. He is strong defensively, but he can also link the midfield with the attack and help Madrid control games from deeper positions.
He is the midfielder who can stand in front of the defence, receive the ball under pressure and decide what happens next. He can dictate the rhythm of a game without needing to dominate it physically. He understands when to slow things down and when to move the ball quickly.
It is difficult for Real Madrid now that Barcelona are in the picture, particularly with the player himself favouring a move to the club. But Florentino Pérez has shown over the years that he can find a way through deals that appear difficult to pull off. He may need to play that card once again, doing everything possible to convince Rodri to move to the Spanish capital.
Barcelona are already troubling enough with the way they play. For anyone who watched Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Barcelona are the closest thing to that level of football in La Liga. Adding Rodri to that team would turn heads and create a whole new sense of possibility.
If a 30-year-old World Cup-winning Spain captain, Ballon d’Or winner and one of the best midfielders of his generation chooses Barcelona at a time when Madrid are rebuilding under Mourinho, it would send a message.
If Madrid lose out, they would probably survive without Rodri. They are Real Madrid. There will always be another player, another transfer window, another superstar.
But that does not mean they would not regret this one.
Because Rodri is not just the midfielder Madrid want.
He is the midfielder they could be forced to face twice every season wearing Barcelona colours.
And sometimes the worst transfer you miss is the one your biggest rival completes.
