Manchester City have turned down a second bid from Barcelona for midfielder Rodri, with the Spanish giants offering £55m — still short of the £60m-plus valuation City have placed on their World Cup-winning captain.

Barcelona had an initial approach of around £40m rejected last week. Sky Sports News had reported on Wednesday that Barca were preparing to raise their offer to somewhere between £50m and £60m, but the fresh £55m bid has again been deemed insufficient by City.

Despite the latest setback, Barcelona remain determined to bring Rodri back to Spain and are weighing their options as they consider a third approach. The 30-year-old is entering the final year of his contract at the Etihad, adding urgency to talks from all sides.

City reluctant sellers

Manchester City have made clear throughout the summer that they have no desire to part with Rodri, preferring instead to tie him down to a new contract. However, the club's position is understood to be that they would not block his exit if the midfielder himself asked to leave.

Reijnders heading to Saudi Arabia

Alongside the Rodri situation, City are in advanced and positive discussions with Saudi Arabian side Al Qadsiah over the sale of Tijjani Reijnders for a package in the region of £51.3m (€60m). Al Qadsiah consider Reijnders a world-class player at peak age and are eager to reinforce their midfield ahead of their first Asian Champions League campaign. The club are also preparing to move into their new Aramco Stadium.

The potential departures of both Rodri and Reijnders mean City could lose two central midfielders in the same window. To address that, the club are pursuing potentially two signings of their own, with interest in Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez and Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Chelsea have set a deadline of 5pm on Friday for City to submit a formal £120m bid for Enzo Fernandez, while negotiations with Lille over Bouaddi are also ongoing.