Transfer Rumor Roundup: Man City preparing $79 million bid this summer; Bale to leave Real Madrid

Pep Guardiola has identified the successor to Fernandinho, and he's convinced Manchester City to break the bank to acquire him.

[READ: JPW's Premier League picks]

Per a report in The Telegraph, Manchester City is preparing a transfer bid of nearly $79 million to sign Atletico Madrid central midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante, better known as Rodri. In his first season in Madrid, the 22-year-old has made 28 La Liga starts along with six in the UEFA Champions League, anchoring the second-place Atletico Madrid midfield.

In addition to his defensive duties, he's also scored a pair of goals this season.

If true, Rodri's transfer will break Man City's previous record when it signed Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City for almost $78 million.

100% – Rodri Hernández (22) & Koke Resurrección (20) has successfully completed all his passes in the #EibarAtleti's first half (42 of 42 on aggregate). Knob pic.twitter.com/NHG9JRynyH

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 20, 2019

Fernandinho continues to be a world class holding midfielder, but coming up on 34-years old, he's surely coming up on time when he won't be able to cover as much ground as he used to. With Rodri in tow, Fernandinho can slowly take a reserve role in the team, or move to another club for one last big contract.

Here are some more transfer rumors from around Europe:

Bale to leave Madrid. Is this time for Real? 

There have been many predictions that Gareth Bale would transfer out of Real Madrid over the past few season, but it feels like this year has reached a breaking point.

With Cristiano Ronaldo out, Bale finally had his chance to prove he could be a world class winger or striker. Instead, he failed miserably to live up to those standards, and while he's had a decent season, it's not even up to his own standards. Now that Zinedine Zidane is back, who doesn't rate Bale as a top-class player, it appears this summer will be the one in which Bale departs. That's according to a report by Marca, which says that Madrid will attempt to find an offer for Bale and even could let him leave on loan with the option to buy.

Unless Bale takes a major pay cut, there are few places that would take him back. If he does take a pay cut though, one could easily see him returning to Tottenham or joining another club like Manchester United.