Rodri asks Barcelona player to give up his shirt number during talks

Rodri has asked soon-to-be Barcelona teammate Fermin Lopez to give up his shirt number.

The 30-year-old midfielder, who has been heavily linked with a move away from Manchester City this summer, is on the verge of joining Barcelona after snubbing rivals Real Madrid during talks.

Shortly after being left out of Enzo Maresca's squad for the Community Shield game against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, it emerged that Barca have agreed a deal to sign Rodri for around £65 million.

The transfer is expected to be wrapped up in the coming days, according to a report from the BBC, which claims the Spain international is set to sign a four-year contract with the Catalan giants.

In the meantime, Rodri has reportedly asked to wear his trademark number 16 shirt at Barcelona.

In fact, Fabrizio Romano suggests he did so during conversations with Fermin Lopez in recent days. Lopez, meanwhile, is expected to switch to the number 7, previously worn by the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.

Fermin Lopez wore the number 16 shirt last season. Image credit: Getty

Barcelona are 'reserving' the number nine shirt for transfer target

Away from Rodri's preference and Robert Lewandowski’s summer departure has left the number nine vacant after four years. So, who will take it?

Barcelona are said to be keeping the number nine reserved for long-term transfer target Julian Alvarez, who continues to be linked with a big-money move to the Camp Nou.

That's according to a report from Spanish publication SPORT, which also claims another summer signing, Karim Adeyemi, has already shown a preference for the number 14 shirt.

Jose Mourinho's reaction to Rodri's Real Madrid snub emerges

After Rodri turned down a move to Los Blancos, more details surrounding how Real's key figures reacted behind-the-scenes to his snub have been revealed.

Spanish outlet SPORT claim that new manager Jose Mourinho had 'already assumed that Rodri would be the final piece of the club's summer signings', having 'continued to insist' that Los Blancos sign both a defensive midfielder and a centre-back.

He is said to have told Eduardo Camavinga that he could leave the club in preparation for a new midfielder to come in.

Real players themselves are said to have 'expected' Rodri to sign for the club and were therefore left surprised at his apparent U-turn.

"[Mourinho] will have to make do with the defensive setup of [Aurelien] Tchouameni, Camavinga and [Federico] Valverde, and repurpose Arda Guler and Bernardo Silva into a double pivot," the report adds, claiming that Real are not planning to sign an alternative midfielder.

"This scenario has repeated itself for the third consecutive year, and in the previous two, it yielded dismal results."

It is said that Mourinho reacted with 'immense anger' in 'more than one conversation' with Real Madrid executives, during which he was told that a new midfielder would not be targeted.