Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win tempered by awkward timing of news on Pep Guardiola transfer deal | OneFootball

Man City will undoubtedly be celebrating Rodri’s Ballon d’Or victory, however, news that a Pep Guardiola favourite could leave the serial Premier League winners will almost certainly have tempered the news.

In the wake of the Spanish midfielder winning the prestigious award, Real Madrid have been raising merry hell because Vini Jr. was not the recipient.

Rodri’s award tempered by news of City transfer

Indeed, their strong stance on the Ballon d’Or awards moving forwards could threaten Trent Alexander-Arnold’s potential move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

In any event, news that Chelsea have targeted Ruben Dias, per TeamTalk sources, is unlikely to sit well with supporters of the Cityzens.

Dias has been a stalwart of the City back four during Guardiola’s tenure, and losing him – particularly to a direct rival – is bound to weaken the club moving forward.

Pep Guardiola could let Rodri join Chelsea. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Though it would be entirely predictable for City to demand a hefty fee for the 27-year-old, that’s unlikely to put off Chelsea.

Manager, Enzo Maresca, will know of Dias’ strengths and weaknesses from his own time at the Premier League champions, and that relationship may help to smooth over any deal too.

With City having won everything over recent years, the only reason that the player could be considering a switch to Stamford Bridge – other than financial gain – would be to become the bedrock of another successful project, and one that’s at a totally different stage as his current employers.

It could even be said that players might get bored of winning and are therefore looking for a new challenge to prove that they’ve still got what it takes to excel with teams that are considered less successful.

Not since 2006 when Fabio Cannavaro lifted the Ballon d’Or has a defender won the award, and perhaps that too could be a motivation for Dias to move on.

Whatever the reasons, it’s clear he’d be an awfully big miss for City and a giant for Chelsea.