🔗 Share this article What Are the Ways Manchester City Fill the Void of Rodri? During the past 14 months, Rodri has remained predominantly out of action due to an serious knee injury sustained in a match with Arsenal, managing just 588 minutes on the pitch for Manchester City because of a series of setbacks, the latest of which excluded him from Wednesday’s 4-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. While Pep Guardiola has stated that “he will not be out for a while,” the 29-year-old stands as fundamental to the coach’s system. Below, we assess the replacements … Nico Gonzalez “The go-to alternative if Rodri cannot play is absolutely Nico. Nico is making improvement,” the City manager remarked before Sunday’s 3-1 win versus Bournemouth. Measuring 6ft 2in and aged 23 at the time he was acquired for a significant fee from Porto in the recent transfer window, the midfielder is a near mirror image of Rodri. Actually, Guardiola described the ex- Barcelona player as a “young Rodri” previously, yet against Bournemouth there were instances when he was pressured and turned over in midfield in a way Rodri, at his very best, would not be. That is no shame, though, in falling short of being in the same caliber as the Ballon d’Or winner. Mateo Kovacic The long-term loss of City’s other holding midfielder due to an ankle injury will be a test for City if González also collect an injury during Rodri’s absence. Kovacic has impressed consistently for City since arriving at the club from Chelsea for £25m in June 2023 and boasts a resume that demonstrates he is a stellar talent. His previous teams encompass Dinamo Zagreb, Inter and Real Madrid. He holds a plethora of honours to his name, like one La Liga title, one Premier League title and four Champions League victories. The Academy Graduate The young defender has accumulated 103 outings for City, almost a quarter of which have been as a holding midfielder. The boy from Bury is proficient in the 360-vision, control, challenges and energy the role calls for in a Pep’s side, but the manager has cited Lewis’s 5ft 7in height as a limitation in that role. “It’s important to have physicality, for evident purposes,” he said. “The need was reduced [needed] in Barcelona, Bayern Munich [Guardiola’s former teams].” Turning 21 soon, Lewis is young and should only continue to improve. Stones “What he brings to the pitch is superb ability as a central defender and potentially as a pivotal No 6.” The perspective there by Thomas Tuchel which aligns with Guardiola concerning the ‘English defender’. Out of Stones’s 408 club games, 27 have come as a deep midfielder and he starred in that role when moving forward from central defence to play with Rodri in City’s 2023 Champions League final victory over Inter. “The all-round vision was the toughest for me,” Stones has said about playing in the position. “It doesn’t come naturally – I believe I do more now, but that’s from learning where to get the ball and how to control it in specific scenarios.” Tijjani Reijnders The midfielder arrived at City from Milan during the off-season as a replacement for Kevin De Bruyne. As he put it himself at the summer’s Club World Cup: “Playing as an attacking midfielder is why they [City] got me. My task is to play in that position and do my best to show that I merit a place.” With Nico nursing a knock, the Dutch international was deployed as a deep midfielder in the recent 1-0 setback at Aston Villa and was moved into attack when the Spaniard came on shortly after the 60-minute mark, the moment offering a glimpse of where he stands in Guardiola’s thinking, namely as a backup. The Portuguese Midfielder Of Brazilian origin Portugal star has made merely nine occasions as a deep-lying midfielder in his career and his only outing in the position for City taking place against Nottingham Forest in September 2023. He completed the entire match and delivered an goal-setting pass in a 2-0 win. The Forgotten Man The club’s forgotten man is just 29. Additionally, he has featured as a deep midfielder on 164 times throughout his career and performed adequately in the role to be selected by England. However, it is clear he lacks the faith of Guardiola.