Rodri Reveals Reasons for Choosing Barcelona Over Real Madrid

Real Madrid thought they had him. All summer, the European champions pushed, called, insisted. Rodri was supposed to be the next pillar in white. Instead, he walked out at Camp Nou in blaugrana, a transfer blow that cut right across the rivalry.

Now, speaking to MD, the Barcelona midfielder has laid out why.

Those “holidays” were anything but.

“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, analysis, pressure. Two of the biggest clubs in the world waiting on a single word from him.

In the end, he says, the choice came down to the pitch, not the noise.

“I made a decision on the sporting level,” Rodri explained, underlining that it was about where he could “win and grow more as a player”. No drama, no off-field scores to settle. Just a cold, hard look at his career path.

Turning down Real Madrid is not something many players do lightly, and he knows it.

“It was not an easy decision at all, saying no to Madrid is not easy,” he said, stressing that the club “behaved exemplarily” throughout the process. There was no fallout, no bitterness in his telling of it. Respect, yes. Regret, no.

In the final stretch of the saga, two figures tipped the scales: Deco and Hansi Flick.

“In the end, Deco and Hansi convinced me,” Rodri revealed. Barcelona’s sporting director and head coach sold him a project, a role, a future. That was enough to pull him away from the Bernabeu’s orbit and into the heart of a rebuilding Barça side that needed a statement signing and got one at Madrid’s expense.

Mourinho’s call – and the follow-up

If Real Madrid fell short, it was not for lack of effort from Jose Mourinho.

Rodri spoke openly about the conversations he had with the Madrid coach, both before and after he chose Barcelona. Mourinho, true to form, went straight to the point.

“He obviously expressed his desire for me to join, and he told me what I could bring to the team,” Rodri said. The treatment, he insisted, “was very good”. No pressure tactics, no public games. Just a clear message: we want you, this is your place in my side.

When Rodri finally decided to go the other way, he didn’t disappear. He picked up the phone.

“When I made the decision, I also called him to thank him for his interest and treatment,” he explained. It was a small detail, but it underlined the tone of the whole episode: tense at the top level, but handled with professional care on all sides.

Rodri did not hold back on his view of Mourinho either.

“I think he's a great coach, he's already shown it wherever he's gone in his great stages,” he said, before adding a warning that will echo around the league: “Real Madrid are going to be a tough opponent for this league.”

Barcelona may have won this particular battle in the market, but they know exactly what stands in their way over 38 games.

Ballon d’Or boycott “played no part”

One storyline that refused to die over the summer was Real Madrid’s decision to boycott Rodri’s 2024 Ballon d'Or victory. The club stayed away from the ceremony, a move that sparked headlines and conspiracy theories about tension and grudges.

Rodri cut straight through that.

He made it “very clear” that Madrid’s stance around the Ballon d’Or had nothing to do with his decision. No revenge angle. No emotional payback. Just a player looking at two giants, weighing up the sporting projects, and choosing the one that, in his view, offered the best platform.

In a rivalry built on drama, his explanation was almost disarming in its simplicity. The impact, though, is anything but simple: Barcelona took a cornerstone midfielder Madrid thought they had, and the next Clásico will feel that little bit sharper every time Rodri touches the ball.