The Spanish midfielder Rodri will undergo back surgery next week, confirmed this Friday the new Manchester City coach, Enzo Maresca, who also cleared up doubts about the future of the world champion by ensuring that he fully counts on him for the project.
The midfielder comes to this intervention after overcoming a season marked by injuries. After suffering a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2024, he managed to recover and was one of Spain’s figures in winning the 2026 World Cup.
Maresca did not want to specify how long he will be out, although he explained that the priority is for the player to complete his recovery.
“The surgery will be, I think, on Monday. Then he needs a vacation, to rest and recover. Then he will return to us,” said the Italian coach.
Maresca rules out a departure for Rodri
Amid rumors about a possible change of club, the coach assured that it is normal that there is interest in one of the best midfielders in the world.
“When you have a player of that level there will always be speculation. He won the World Cup and was one of the best players in the tournament. I think any coach would want to have Rodri because he is a top-level player,” he said.
The challenge of succeeding Guardiola
Maresca offered these statements during his official presentation as the new coach of Manchester City, after the departure of Pep Guardiola, who put an end to a historic period of ten seasons at the head of the club.
The Italian, who already worked as Guardiola’s assistant and also coached Leicester City and Chelsea, acknowledged that taking over as City’s bench represents a huge challenge.
“It is a privilege. I have always said that Pep has probably been the best coach in the world in the last 20 or 25 years, but this represents a very nice challenge,” he commented.
Maintain City’s identity
Maresca assured that he intends to preserve the philosophy that made Manchester City one of the powers of European football.
“We will try to be a dominant team with the ball, control the games, impose our idea of the game and, above all, do the most important thing in football: win games,” he explained.
The 46-year-old coach thus begins his third stage at the club, where he previously coached the youth team and later joined Guardiola’s coaching staff during the historic 2022-23 season, in which City won the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup.
