“Next season he will be here” - Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola confirms extent of Rodri’s injury

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed the seriousness of the injury to star midfielder Rodri. The Spaniard revealed that Rodri will be out for the season.

Rodri suffered a knee injury during Manchester City's match against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, September 22. City had taken an early lead through Erling Haaland but suffered a major setback when Rodri went down in their box clutching his knee after a collision with Thomas Partey 10 minutes later.

Although he was able to walk off the field, there were fears he had injured his cruciate ligaments. Rodri flew to Spain to be checked by a specialist on Monday and Guardiola confirmed the diagnosis in a press conference today, September 27.

Speaking to the press, Guardiola elaborated on the injury his star midfielder suffered (via Mirror):

"He [Rodri] had surgery this morning - ACL and some meniscus. So, next season he will be here. This season is over [for him]."

"It is what it is at that level. We are here to support him. Good recovery, step by step and we move forward," he added.

The 28-year-old had, earlier this month, warned about players being overworked due to the congested calendar. He had also hinted at players organising a strike to protest against the fixture pile-up.

Gary Neville provides his input on how Manchester City will manage in Rodri's absence

Rodri's injury poses questions to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on how he would manage the rest of the season without his prized midfielder. They sold his most natural replacement in the squad, Kalvin Phillips, over the summer. However, Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan can also play at the base of the midfield.

Gary Neville, however, believes that Guardiola will come up with something unique to help City cope in the absence of the best player of the 2024 Euros. Speaking on The Overlap's US podcast, 'It's Called Soccer', the Manchester United legend said:

"I was thinking: 'What will Pep Guardiola have up his sleeve?' You think of a man who put [Javier] Mascherano at centre-half for Barcelona, a man who's put players into different positions that we would never have expected as a manager."

He said that versatile defender John Stones could step in to replace Rodri.

"Does John Stones become Rodri for the next six months? He'll be working on that already Pep Guardiola. He won't just sit back and do nothing. I can't see him just doing the ordinary," Neville said.

With Manchester City in action against Newcastle United at the weekend, fans won't have to wait long to see Pep Guardiola's approach in Rodri's absence.