Rodrygo sends four-word response to multi-club Premier League transfer battle

Real Madrid forward Rodrygo has emphatically dismissed transfer speculation linking him with a move to the Premier League with a forceful message: “Stop making things up.”

Rodrygo’s place in the Madrid hierarchy took a blow following the summer arrival of Kylian Mbappe. The Brazilian forward has been afforded a comparable number of playing opportunities – he is only one game short of the 51 appearances racked up last season – but his status in the squad has been unmistakably diminished.

As the Brazilian pointedly noted earlier this season: “I’m just filling spaces. Is someone missing there? Put Rodrygo in.”

Reports in Spain initially claimed that Rodrygo had accepted his future lies elsewhere while some outlets even went as far to suggest that the forward was “refusing to play” for the remainder of the season.

Multiple Premier League clubs have been alerted to the possibility this reported unrest presents, according to AS. Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are billed as the three teams with the most concrete interest in the versatile forward, while Manchester United and Chelsea are said to be kept abreast of proceedings.

Rodrygo, by contrast, took a rather different stance. “Thank you for all your messages and concerns,” he wrote in a social media post which appeared to show him recovering in a hyperbaric chamber. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Stop making things up,” he added.

It remains to be seen what role Rodrygo will have in the absence of Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian manager has confirmed his imminent appointment at the helm of the Brazil men’s national team – where he will have the chance to link up with Rodrygo – ahead of Xabi Alonso’s expected Real Madrid arrival.

The departing Bayer Leverkusen boss is said to be targeting his current side’s talismanic playmaker Florian Wirtz, who would theoretically knock Rodrygo even further down the pecking order in the Spanish capital.