Manchester City fans received the news that they were dreading on Monday afternoon: Rodri is set to miss the rest of the 2024/25 season due to injury.
The issue occurred during City’s mammoth, bad-tempered Premier League clash with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, when the midfielder’s knee buckled after colliding with Thomas Partey while attacking a corner.
Rodri received lengthy medical attention on the pitch, with his concerned teammates looking on, and was eventually withdrawn by Pep Guardiola once it became apparent that he couldn’t continue.
Unfortunately, it appears that Rodri has torn his ACL – an injury that is likely to rule the 2024 Ballon d’Or contender out for the remainder of the season.
All attention now turns to what Guardiola will do to cover his absence, given Rodri is widely regarded as the best player in the world in his position…
It’s worth remembering that, prior to this week, Rodri had actually not started a single game for Manchester City this season due to a hamstring injury picked up in the Euro 2024 final.
In his stead, Mateo Kovacic started all four of City’s Premier League games at the start of 2024/25.
The result? Four wins on the bounce, and Kovacic was one of the club’s best-performing players in August – 90min’s player ratings for the month attests to that.
That spate of good form while Rodri was out of action, while a small sample size, could be enough to convince Pep Guardiola that Kovacic can fill the void for the rest of the season.
If Guardiola is not fully aboard the Kovacic train, then dipping into the transfer market in January will be necessary.
The most obvious replacement for Rodri that could be on the market is the man who replaced him at half-time in the Euro 2024 final: Martin Zubimendi.
Zubimendi was fantastic when he came on for the injured Rodri in the final, providing both the defensive might – winning 100% of his duels – and offensive prowess – completing 92% of his passes – that we’re accustomed to seeing from City’s superstar midfielder.
Having been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool in the summer, City will likely not be the only club interested in his services come January. But the guarantee of minutes at a club who should challenge on all four fronts this season – despite his loyalty to Real Sociedad – may be hard to turned down.
The Rodri role in the heart of Pep Guardiola’s 4-1-4-1 tactical set-up may be the most demanding in world football.
As the pivot upon which the whole of City’s defensive and offensive shape is built around, the quality on and off the ball needed by a player in that role is very, very hard to find – hence why the midfielder who plays the role effectively is a Ballon d’Or level talent.
And while Kovacic has proved he can do a job in there for a short period, and the expectation is that Zubimendi could do the same, there may be a need to switch things up tactically for the remainder of the 2024/25 season while Rodri is out injured.
Adding a few extra bodies deep in midfield by reverting to either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 formation could alleviate the pressure on City’s midfielders moving forward – evenly distributing the burden of replacing the Spanish superstar.
That brings Rico Lewis and John Stones into the conversation – two players you’d imagine could do a pretty decent job if they had a smidge more support than what Rodri is accustomed to having.
