Manchester city boss Pep Guardiola has revealed the best defensive Midfielder in the world Rodri will be out for a long, long time. Rodri set for long-time injury.
This was confirmed after limping off the pitch in Manchester city’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal in the premier league on Sunday.
It has been reported that the midfielder will miss the rest of the season. Guardiola has said that he does not yet have a time-frame for the 28-years-old’s return, and he will see a specialist this week.
Manchester city boss has confirmed that Rodri needs surgery to fix the knee injury picked up during the match.
The midfielder limped off at half-time following a collision with Thomas Partey. The citizens do not yet know the full extent of the problem.
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Guardiola speaking after his win against Watford
Guardiola has admitted after his 2-1 win over Watford in the Carabao Cup on tuesday, that it will be several months before the return of Rodri to fitness.
“still we don’t have the definitive,” he said. “He will be out for a long time, a while, but there is some opinions that may maybe it will be less that we expect”.
“Unfortunately he was injured. Right now, still, I cannot tell you how long because we are waiting for the phone calls from him and doctors to know exactly what, definitely, he has and the type of surgery that he has to get”.
“We don’t want this, but we will still have a good season,” he continued. “I trust a lot in my players, I have a duty to find a solution.”
“Rodri is irreplaceable and the team won’t play with the best midfielder in the world for a long, long time. Of course, it is a big blow for us”.
“But it is football, it happened, and my duty is to find a solution, to be competitive like we have been for years”.
Who could be the best replacement for Rodri?
Not to mince words, Mateo Kovacic has stepped up so far last season and this season in Rodri’s role. He is one player who now has a big role to play this season.
The same goes for Ilkay Gundogan. Rico Lewis looks destined to develop into a midfielder in time, but given the recent form of Kyle Walker he maybe be needed to stay at right-back.
Rodri’s absence may be the opportunity for Matheus Nunes to finally make an impact for Manchester city. Perhaps it will take a tactical tweak and a new midfield combination to cover the long-term loss of Rodri.
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How city cover the loss of Rodri in the immediate future is now a story to watch for. City may move in the January transfer window but that is months away from opening.
Pep Guardiola will have to make do with what city have at the moment to cover the absence of the midfielder and city’s midfield in general.
Rodri, a key player and Best in the world.
Rodri may be listed as a defensive midfielder, but he was involved in 8.4 attacking sequences per 90 minutes, whether a shot, chance created or a build-up to a shot, per Opta. The most by any player in the premier league last season. It is safe to say that Rodri is a fairly important player in Guardiola’s system.
It is safe to say that Rodri is a fairly important player in Guardiola’s system. Just as he recovered from hamstring injury after playing in 50 matches last season, he is hit with an even longer injury that could spell certain doom for city’s hope of winning the Premier League title.
Not only that Rodri helped keep things in check on the defensive end, but he is also proven to be vital in city’s build-up play.
In May, Manchester City lifted a record fourth straight premier league title under manager Pep Guardiola, and from the outside looking in, it was thanks in large part to Erling Haaland who scored 20 league goals, However, it was Rodri who has proven to be city’s most important player since his arrival ahead od the 2019 season from La Liga giant Atletico Madrid.
Rodri’s performances since joining City.
After playing for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid in the Spanish League, Rodri joined premier league giants Manchester city in 2019.
He helped the team win four consecutive league titles in 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 seasons respectively.
In 2022-23 season he was part of the team which claimed a historic continental treble. This treble included city’s first UEFA Champions League title, with Rodri scoring the only goal that led to the UEFA glory in the final. He was named the tournament’s player of the season.
Rodri also won the UEFA Nations league in 2023, being named the best player of the finals tournament.
He was also integral in Spain’s win at Euro 2024, in which he was also named player of the tournament.
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Rodri placed Fifth in the 2023 Ballon d’or ranking and is once again nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’or currently considered one of the favorites for the award.
Rodri joined the city’s side in 2019 and he signed a five-year contract. He made his debut in the 2019 FA community Shield on 4th August at Wembley Stadium.
He played the full 90 minutes as city won on penalties against Liverpool after a 1-1 draw.
He made his premier league debut against West Ham United six days later in a 5-0 away win and he scored his first City goal in a 3-2 away defeat against Norwich City.
Due to same Hamstring injury, it was announced that Rodri would be out for a month.
On 12th july 2022, Rodri agreed to extend his contract to 2027. The following year he scored his first Champions League goal in 3-0 win against Bayern Munich, scoring the opener in the Quarter-finals first leg.
Then, emerging to the Finals, he scored the only Goal in the Champions league final against Inter Milan, securing city’s win for their first title in the competition, and as well completing the treble.
Rodri was named player of the match, and was selected as the Tournament’s player of the season.
Just at the start of the season he picked up an injury Arsenal and was withdrawn in the first half of the game. It was confirmed the following day to be an ACL injury, likely ruling him out of the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.
