Rodri has revealed positive news about his injury and rehabilitation process. The Spaniard, who tore his ACL in September during Man City’s tough clash against Arsenal, has now given the fans a promising word concerning his return. The Spanish midfield maestro has been an instrumental presence in City’s team. He has been a major influence on their game style, which has allowed them to dominate both in England and Europe.
However, in the bid to continue such influence this season, the 28-year-old was hit with a season-ending injury. Prior to the beginning of the season, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner also inspired Spain to win the Euro 2024 in the summer. However, in the final, he had a minor injury that didn’t allow him to finish the game. It took him till September before he was up to full fitness for the league. However, his playing was soon cut short.
Rodri’s Positive Update
The Spaniard is set to miss the whole season after rupturing his ACL. However, in his latest interview, he gave a glimmer of hope for the fans. Rodri spoke about his return maybe sooner than expected. A possibly soon enough to participate in the later part of the league games.
He said: “I feel I can return already THIS season, yes. It’s possible, and I can make it happen. I’m recovering now, no pressure… It’s important to recover in the best way possible. But the season is long, there’s the new Clubs’ World Cup… I can do it.”
The Spaniard believes he can make it back on time to feature in the later part of the league and also possibly be fully for the New Club World Cup.
His Absence in City
Manchester City began the season in high spirits, winning every possible game and grinding out results. However, after Rodri’s injury, they slowly started to decline. At first, they kept winning games, but mostly with close margins. They were getting easily exploited by their opponents in certain areas, but they kept managing to grind out results. But now it has gotten worse for the Cityzens they failed to win their last four games. This is the first under Pep Guardiola. They’ve lost their last two games in the league and were also evicted in the Carabao Cup. At the same time, they also lost heavily in the Champions League.
It’s no news that the Premier League Champions are handling the injury of the midfield maestro badly.
After Rodri’s injury, City has also been having players who have been on and off with injury, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake, and Ruben Dias. This season fitness hasn’t been their best companion.
Plans in January
Pep Guardiola might be on the big lookout for a solid Holding Midfielder because of Rodri’s injury. However, getting a player close to the Spaniard’s quality will be a tough task. There’s a high chance that the Manchester club will try and find a temporary replacement for the star, even if the quality doesn’t match the 28-year-old.
There are some names Man City may want to look into. The likes of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, Ederson from Atlanta, and Alan Varela. It’s expected that getting any of these players might not be easy for them, especially in terms of the cost and player interest. Nevertheless, the Cityzens will try to shoot in their shot.
Conclusion
With Rodri sidelined for a lengthy period Man City will be hoping to manage things till January and find a possible replacement. Although it might not seem easy Manchester will hope they can get something tangible off the January transfer window. Whilst in the midst of everything, they’ll also hope that the lengthy period of Rodri’s injury can be shorter. And judging from the Spaniard’s latest interview, there are high hopes for that.