pamAccording to the news, the Manchester City midfielder Rodri will have to undergo a back surgery in the coming week. The new head coach Enzo Maresca delivered the news on Friday. Rodri has had a tough couple of years.
He had an ACL injury in the year 2024. He was injured and did not play throughout last season also. But he still went ahead to win the World Cup with Spain against Argentina this summer.
Maresca didn’t give an insight News on how long it will take Rodri before he recovers from the injury fully. He also made it clear that he wants Rodri to stay and play for the club, despite rumors or speculations about his future.
“Around a big player, there are always rumors so I’m not worried about that. I think it is normal also because they won the World Cup. He was one of the best players we had and I think that every club manager wants to have Rodri because he’s a top player,” Maresca said.
“But now (he has) surgery on, I think that will be on Monday, and he needs a holiday or break. He needs to rest, he needs to recover fully well and then he will be back here with us.”
A New Chapter at Manchester City
Maresca spoke to the media as he was introduced as City’s new head coach. He is now the head coach after Pep Guardiola, who resigned at the end of previous season.
Maresca used to work as an assistant coach under Pep Guardiola and he was also part of his coaching staff. According to him (Maresca), returning back to Man City felt like going back home, following his times at Leicester City and Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola was a very successful coach of Manchester United. He was able to win 17 major trophies with the club, which also included six Premier League titles and also won the club’s first Champions League title back in 2023.
All through his whole coaching career, at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and then at Manchester City, he was able to win 35 major titles for the club respectively.
“I said a lot of times that I always considered Pep Guardiola probably one of the best coaches in the world in the previous 2025 years, but again, it’s a challenge. It’s nice. It’s a privilege,” According to Maresca.
Not His First Time at the Club
This is the third time that Maresca will be working at Manchester City. He was then the academy coach in the 2020 up to the 2021 season. He later returned as Pep Guardiola’s assistant in 2022 to 2023. This is the same season that Manchester City won the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup at once.
“Probably the reason why the club decided for me to be there is because they can see some similar concepts and coaching tactics with the previous manager and we always try our best to be aggressive on the ball, maintain control of the game, try to be the ones that impose our idea,” he said. “And try to do the most important thing in football, that is to win games at the end.”
