Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is sweating on the next medical bulletin for midfielder Rodri as speculation mounts that the Spaniard faces a lengthy lay-off with a knee injury.
Deep as the quality is within City’s squad, some players are simply irreplaceable and silky defensive midfielder Rodri most definitely fits into that category.
Since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, Rodri has played 174 Premier League games for City and has finished on the losing side only 19 times in that period, winning 129.
Tellingly, however, City’s chances of losing rise dramatically when he is not anchoring their midfield.
City have lost seven of the 21 Premier League games in which he was absent, a 33% loss rate compared to 10.9% when he was playing. Last season, City lost three games in the first half of the season without Rodri — to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal and Aston Villa — but none after he returned from injury.
Few players contribute across all areas of the pitch more than Rodri, according to the statistics.
Since arriving in England, Rodri has completed more passes in the opposition’s half than any other player with only Declan Rice above him in terms of winning back possession.
Put simply, he is the master at winning the ball and then using it quickly to telling effect.
It is a skillset that has made City the dominant force in England and helped Spain rule Europe again.
Only once have a City or Spain national team including Rodri lost in the past 18 months — City’s surprise FA Cup final defeat by Manchester United last season.
No wonder the 28-year-old who scored a healthy 12 goals for club and country last season is being tipped for this year’s Ballon d’Or and no wonder why Guardiola looked so fearful when his midfield general limped off in distress early in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with title rivals Arsenal.
Rodri had orchestrated a superb opening spell by City in that clash at the Etihad with the hosts dominating and 1-0 ahead when he fell after an innocuous clash with Thomas Partey.
No sooner had he left the field than Arsenal equalised and after going behind City needed a John Stones equaliser eight minutes into stoppage time to avoid a damaging defeat by the 10-man Gunners.
Mateo Kovacic is a like-for-like replacement for Rodri but if, as is feared, Rodri has sustained a potentially season-ending ACL knee injury, the odds on City winning a fifth successive Premier League title will lengthen significantly.
Rodri’s injury has once again raised question marks over the hectic football schedule.
Just last week the Spaniard had warned leading players could go on strike over an ever-expanding schedule.
He played over 5,000 minutes in 63 games for City and Spain last season.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s something that worries us because we are the guys that suffer,” he said on the increasing physical and mental demands placed on players.
“Someone has to take care of us because we are the main characters of this, let’s say, sport, or business, whatever you want to call it.”