Rodri is due in Manchester on Friday, after his planned back surgery following World Cup glory meant he was given two extra days’ holiday. But in the context of that rehabilitation and the harsh reality that his future now lies away from Manchester City, it wouldn’t represent a great surprise if the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner did not return to the building for regular pre-season testing.
City are braced for yet more haggling with Barca and want to recoup more than £60million for a central midfielder in the final year of his contract, who was awarded player of the tournament last month. Somebody who often looked physically shot last season, yet was imperious at international level.
There is a balance to strike for director of football Hugo Viana in making sure City maximise Rodri’s value while also realising that this orchestrated exit – heavily signposted for a year and solidified by Pep Guardiola‘s goodbye, with the 30-year-old starting only 18 Premier League games in the last two seasons – likely only ends one way.
Guardiola called it last autumn, that City would not see the best of his metronome all season and that recaptured form would be reserved for the World Cup. The suggestion felt intriguing at the time, more by the way in which it was delivered – a little knowing, somewhat resigned. City’s medical staff were attempting to curb Rodri’s desire to rush various injury comebacks.
There are those who believe his performances Stateside, when temperatures dictated that games were played at a slower pace, prove that there is still nobody better across Europe than him. But in finally coming to terms with a parting of ways, City may look at diminishing returns: in the past two seasons, City win fewer matches when Rodri starts.
In the Premier League, the win ratio is exactly half with him starting. Without, it is 60.3 per cent. A very similar story plays out from 29 starts in all competitions. Never before in Rodri’s City career have the team won more games in his absence.
Manchester City are braced for yet more haggling with Barca and want to recoup more than £60million for Rodri, who was awarded World Cup player of the tournament last month
But in finally coming to terms with a parting of ways, City may look at diminishing returns: in the past two seasons, City win fewer matches when Rodri starts
Although not an exact science – City still always concede fewer goals when he’s the deep midfielder – and a small sample size, it does represent a comparison worthy of note.
City, and Enzo Maresca, would prefer to plough on with him, of course. Their movements in the transfer window paint a picture of how this is only heading one way.
Proactive and forceful club denials around interest in Chelsea’s £120million-rated Enzo Fernandez at the beginning of the summer have now given way to silence. Fernandez wants to reunite with his old boss Maresca and those close to him believe the feeling to be mutual. Ayyoub Bouaddi, the Moroccan who lit up the World Cup, is edging closer to signing from Lille, as the French club demand £85million.
City sources say Bouaddi’s arrival is not linked to Rodri’s future and that they are pursuing him regardless of what happens, in a window that is threatening to become busy if Tijjani Reijnders and potentially another midfielder leave.
Yet his displays across almost 100 senior games, earning rave reviews for a physicality off the ball and intelligence on it, dictate that he can be ready to impact City’s fortunes. His minutes will have to be carefully monitored and managed.
What seemed apparent on Wednesday, when Elliot Anderson was unveiled to supporters during an event at the Etihad, was that the £116million club-record signing fancies more of a roaming ‘box-to-box’ role than filling Rodri’s void.
‘I’ve spoken to the manager a few times – he explained the sort of things that I need to do,’ said Anderson. ‘There is a lot of running, a lot of energy. It’s to try and control games. That is what I can do.
‘I’ll see where I get used. Creating things, driving forward or the other role if they ask me to do that. Kevin De Bruyne was always the player I looked up to over the last 10 years. I loved watching him. To be here at the same club and playing where he played is special.’
Ayyoub Bouaddi (right), the Moroccan who lit up the World Cup, is edging closer to signing from Lille, as the French club demand £85million
There is a feeling that Enzo Fernandez (left) wants to reunite with Enzo Maresca, but for now Elliot Anderson (right) is the man City have identified as the one to run their midfield
City identified Anderson’s aggression and punch in the pass as ideal for the way the Premier League operates these days. Maresca has operated with a two-man midfield in his pre-season fixtures – Mateo Kovacic and Reijnders against Atletico Madrid in South Korea on Sunday – and in that system, Anderson would appear as the one who springs forward, chipping in with the sort of goal he scored away at City during a 2-2 draw in March, arriving late.
Kovacic is ahead of Nico Gonzalez in the pecking order and expected to start Sunday’s Community Shield against Arsenal in Cardiff. Both Gonzalez and Kovacic have publicly declared that they do not wish to leave this summer.
The physical demands Maresca places upon his midfielders is huge, with Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki vying for the role pushed up alongside Erling Haaland. Maresca is looking at around half a dozen options as part of the two, with that second runner crucial. The way Reijnders crashed the boxes during their friendlies showcased exactly what is being preached on the training pitch.
‘I’ve taken huge confidence knowing that I can perform on a World Cup stage,’ Anderson said, also admitting that he’s still struggling with England’s semi-final defeat by Argentina. ‘Obviously I hadn’t played in anything as big as that yet. I had a big decision to make on who to join and I’m confident I’ve made the right one.’
