José Mourinho sheds light on what went wrong with the Rodri transfer

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has finally broken his silence on his club’s failed pursuit of Spanish midfielder Rodri, who recently signed with Barcelona following his exploits in Spain’s World Cup-winning campaign.

Rodri chose Barcelona over Los Blancos in a deal worth €75m (£65.4m) from Manchester City. However, before the Catalans swooped in for his signature, Real Madrid were in pole position, with Mourinho speaking about how the club did send a rather significant offer for him, but he turned it down citing certain doubts that he had about the club.

Mourinho’s comments came the same day after Rodri was announced as a Barcelona player, while saying that the Catalan club were indeed his first choice in the teams interested to get him on board. Apart from Barcelona and Real Madrid, even PSG were in the fray, but the midfielder’s wish of returning back to Spain meant that they were out of the running.

The 63-year-old Portuguese did not mince his words, saying that Rodri will not be missed at the Bernabeu. “I spoke to him a couple of times and Real Madrid made him a very good offer,” Mourinho said in an interview with El Chiringuito.

“Without negotiating with City, the club were in contact with Rodri and made him an important offer. Rodrigo had doubts, he doubted. And his doubts created doubts in me. He is an extraordinary player and he behaved in the right way with us. I have nothing bad to say. But Real Madrid are so big that you can’t have players who have to think twice. You get in touch with a player and the player says: ‘When do I go?’ That’s how it works.”

The narrative in the media following the signing has portrayed Barcelona as the biggest winners of this window, with Real Madrid picking up the pieces from a psychological point of view. 

Mourinho, however, was very quick to shoot that suggestion down, saying that signings do not represent a victory. “Victories are on the pitch, trophies.”

Despite not being able to sign Rodri, Real Madrid have not set their sights on picking up an alternative midfield option, with Mourinho making it clear that he is very happy and content with how his current squad is shaping up ahead of the season’s kick-off.

“I am not saying that there will not be any more signings because the market is still open, but if you ask me directly whether the squad is complete, for me yes it is,” said the 63-year-old at the start of his second stint managing the club. “It’s complete, closed. I like [my squad] a lot.

“I don’t miss Rodrigo. We have solutions, we have quality, we have players who maybe you look at and you judge them on what they have done but I like to think that I have the ability to improve players. A player that is one thing today can be a different player tomorrow.”