Barcelona Has Made A Key Decision On New Signing Rodri

Rodri is set to make his starting debut for FC Barcelona this weekend against Valencia, or when the Catalans host Feyenoord in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Barca pulled off a major coup in the summer transfer window by convincing Spain’s World Cup-winning captain and Golden Ball recipient at the tournament to choose them over Real Madrid.

A final fee of €60 million up front with another €11.5 million in add-ons was also shrewd business from Sporting Director Deco, even though Rodri had less than a year left on his Manchester City contract.

Whatever the circumstances, the 30-year-old is now Culer. He’s already racked up minutes against Athletic Club (27) and Rayo Vallecano (26), in respective 2-0 and 5-2 wins at the Spotify Camp Nou.

As you might have guessed, or will already know, those outings were cameos off the bench where Rodri had time to gel with his new teammates including – most importantly – Spain compadre Pedri.

Still at the peak of his powers, though, as he demonstrated at the World Cup, a former Ballon d’Or winner like Rodri won’t accept a secondary role to the likes of Marc Bernal for too long.

But sure, he’ll need to sit some fixtures out just like Pedri if Barca want to retain the La Liga title for the third time – and first since the Pep Guardiola era – while also making a deep run in the Champions League.

Rodri is expected to make his starting Barcelona debut in the next few days

With this in mind, Rodri could make his starting debut in Blaugrana as early as Sunday, when the Catalans travel to the Mestalla to take on Valencia.

As Real Madrid faces Real Betis away on Friday night, a win for Flick’s men could be vital for staying level on points with Jose Mourinho’s outfit.

If Rodri’s start doesn’t come then, Feyenoord in an early 18.45 kick off should definitely be when he gets the nod.

As indicated, this will probably come at the expense of Barcelona academy graduate Bernal, as Rodri partners Pedri and either Dani Olmo or Fermin Lopez is a CAM ahead of them.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com