Barcelona Close to Reaching Agreement to Sign Valencia Striker Rodrigo
Barcelona are closing in on striker Rodrigo after Valencia president Anil Murthy travelled to Catalonia in an attempt to thrash out a deal.
The Valencia chief is on the verge of negotiating a loan move that would see the Spain international Rodrigo head to Camp Nou before the transfer deadline.
However, it is a deal that has proved problematic, and Murthy is determined that Valencia are granted their wish of agreeing that Barça's offer includes a compulsory option to buy the 28-year-old.
According to Sport, the deal is finely balanced and has reached crunch time with regards to the two clubs coming to an agreement.
Negotiations were thought to have come to a standstill last week, with Valencia having initially batted away several approaches from Barcelona for Rodrigo.
But reports now say that Los Che have re-entered discussions with La Liga's champions.
It is thought that Barca tried to sweeten any proposed deal with the offer of defender Moussa Wagué and 19-year-old striker Abel Ruiz, two players deemed surplus to requirement by new coach Quique Setién.
However, neither of the players mentioned appeared to appease Valencia, and they are only interested in striking up a cash deal.
They are holding out for €60m and the guarantee that Rodrigo will join on a permanent basis in the summer, as reported by superdeporte.es.
Rodrigo would become Setién's first signing since replacing Ernesto Valverde at the helm less than two weeks ago.
Valencia inflicted the first defeat of Setién's Barcelona reign on Saturday, as a Maxi Gómez strike and a Jordi Alba own goal saw the hosts to a 2-0 win at Mestalla.
As for the man of the hour, Rodrigo was resigned to a place on the bench but did replace French forward Kévin Gameiro on the hour mark in what could have been his last game for the club.
Either way, it's clear that losing Luis Suarez being sidelined for four months with a knee injury has forced Barcelona into the transfer market for a striker.
Rodrigo hasn't exactly been prolific this season, only scoring twice in the league so far.
