Rodri will miss the whole season through injury, Man City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
The midfielder has undergone surgery after injuring his knee in last Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League.
“”He had surgery this morning, ACL and some meniscus,” Guardiola said at a press conference on Friday.
“Next season he will be here. This season is over [for him]. It is what it is.
“Unfortunately, we got the worst [news] but it is what it is at this level. Sometimes, unfortunately, it happens. We are just there to support him and [help him make a] good recovery, step by step, and move forward.
“What he gives us, we don’t have a similar player but the other players altogether can replace what Rodri has given since arriving here with us.
“We will have to do it as a team and find a way to play a lot of matches without an important player for us.
“We are stronger with him and stronger with [Nathan] Ake and [Oscar] Bobb and Kevin [De Bruyne], but that is what it is. We don’t want it but it is football.
“As a club we have magnificent players and we will find a solution.”
Fellow midfielder De Bruyne will also miss Saturday’s game at Newcastle.
Rodri’s absence will leave a huge void, with the champions having not lost any of their last 48 Premier League matches in which he has featured.
He has been a vital component of four title-winning sides since joining the club in 2019. He scored the winning goal in the 2023 Champions League final and is one of the leading contenders to win this year’s Ballon d’Or award after helping Spain to Euro 2024 success.
Guardiola said: “It’s a lot of months without an important player for us, everybody knows it.”
Only last week Rodri joined a host of high-profile players to speak out about the ever-increasing fixture workload facing the game’s top stars, and said he thought players could be “close” to striking because of the overloaded calendar.
More to follow…