Rodri says he will always hold Manchester City close to his heart after bringing an end to a spectacular seven years at the club.
Rodri joins Barcelona
The 30-year-old has joined Barcelona after 298 appearances and 14 major honours at City.
After signing for the club in 2019, the Spaniard developed into one of the best players in the world, winning the 2024 Ballon d’Or and leading Spain to World Cup and European Championship success.
While a pivotal part of our sustained success on the pitch, Rodri also says he’s developed a deep emotional attachment to the club and the city.
“It’s not like I miss [City] because I don’t feel like I’m leaving. I think I’m just moving to another club, but my heart will always be linked to the city and to the club,” he said in his final City Studios interview.
“I always try to be involved in the games, try to come and watch them and keep in touch with my ex-teammates.
“But of course, physically you leave. Seven years I think is the right moment to say goodbye, to write a good story.
“I always say that the most important thing is to have the whole image, the whole movie, and say I’m proud of this.
“Both parts, club and player, we’re proud of this and this was the reason of my decision.
“My heart will always be blue all my life. And they always have Rodri for anything they need.”
As a key part of a historic era for City, Rodri has enjoyed a close bond with the City faithful at the Etihad Stadium.
After missing much of the 2024/25 campaign with a serious knee injury, Rodri says our fans’ excitement upon his return to fitness touched him.
“I always think that individual trophies are not that important. What I felt was the love of my club all these years like in the bad moments when I got injured,” he said.
“It was amazing the love I received when I came back.
“They showed me in that game that I came back with all the emotion and everything they have inside to watch Rodri again. This makes me cry and makes me proud.
“Sometimes unfortunately in football happen that they only support you in the good moments but they managed to do in all the good and bad moments.”
The No.16 also paid tribute to everyone at the club for spurring him on to be the very best player he could be.
Arriving at City with approximately three seasons’ worth of experience in La Liga with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, he was tasked with building on Fernandinho’s
“I arrived here as a good player. I think no one realised, no one knew who I was in that moment, a 23-year-old guy coming from Atletico, from Spain,” he said.
“Spain is not a very physical league, and I would be here to take the role of Fernandinho, a very aggressive player, and suddenly they saw a guy like this.
“I couldn’t imagine what the fans were thinking about me but I was very confident that I could succeed in this team and I could grow, as you said, around the years.
“I was always humble enough to know that I have a big gap of improvement and I think that has been my key as a player, to understand that I never get relaxed.”
“I was humble enough to know what are your limits and what can improve every year.”