Manchester City will be without Spain international Rodri potentially for the remainder of the season but head coach Pep Guardiola remains adamant his side will cope despite missing arguably their most important player.
The Spanish midfielder picked up a knee injury in Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, was replaced by Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic in the 22nd minute.
Although his importance to City, who have won the Premier League title for four years in a row, cannot be over emphasized, Guardiola believes his side “will have a good season” as he expects other players to step up.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager said: “We don’t want it, but we will have a good season. I trust a lot in my players. I have the duty to find a solution.
“Rodri is irreplaceable. When a team don’t play with the best midfielder [in] the world for a long, long time of course, it’s a big, big blow for us. But it’s football. It’s happened. But my duty is to find a solution. To be competitive like we have been for many years and continue to be there, to be a problem for our opponents.”
Reports making the rounds suggest Rodri, who visited Barcelona to see a specialist doctor immediately after the Arsenal match, has suffered an anterior crucial ligament injury which will keep him on the sidelines for a long time but Guardiola insists the club is yet to ascertain the extent of the midfielder’s injury.
“We still don’t have the definitive [information],” he said when asked about the midfielder’s injury. “[He] will be out for a long time, a while. But there are some opinions that maybe it will be less than we expected.
“But unfortunately, [he] was injured and right now I still cannot tell you because we are waiting [for] the last phone calls from him and the doctors to know exactly what he has and the type of surgery that he has to get.”
Asked when he expects to find out more on the Rodri situation, Guardiola said: “I expect tomorrow. I think tonight or tomorrow we’ll know it, exactly. I think the club will inform perfectly.”
City, who were in action in the League Cup on Tuesday, saw off Championship side Watford 2-1 in the third round at Etihad with goals from Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes, while Tom Ince scored for the Hornets.
FULL-TIME | Into the next round of the @Carabao_Cup 💪
🩵 2-1 🐝 #ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/ecXNtgaai8
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 24, 2024
The eight-time winners of the EFL Cup have progressed to the fourth round and they remain atop the Premier League standings, with a trip to St. James’ Park next up on Saturday.
