Manchester City star Rodri could miss their Premier League opener with the midfielder yet to report for training.
The Euro 2024 winner has been a linchpin of Pep Guardiola’s midfield but was given an extended break following his success with Spain and isn’t expected back to training until Wednesday. It leaves him with minimal time to get up to speed and could see him sit out the clash with Chelsea.
Rodri came off in the final of the Euros and City have been keen to manage his workload ahead of what will be another demanding season. Previously the absence of the 28-year-old has seen City’s win percentage plummet, underlining his importance.
They only lost three times last term – and all of those were when Rodri was missing. His only loss in 90 minutes came during the FA Cup final when Manchester United upset the odds to beat their local rivals.
Guardiola though has been able to welcome back England trio Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden to training. They were also granted extra time off following their run to the final of the Euros, reports the MEN.
Some players started in the Community Shield at Wembley after just a few training sessions and Guardiola has previously praised the abilities of Walker and Foden to quickly get their fitness levels up and adapt to the demands of a matchday, despite having time away.
City have won seven of their eight opening day outings with Guardiola at the helm. Their defeat in 2021 against Tottenham in their only reverse with the Catalan largely seeing his team get off to the ideal start.
They began in ideal fashion by winning the Community Shield on Saturday. Bernardo Silva’s 89th minute equaliser saw the game to to penalties and Jonny Evans’ sudden death miss allowed Manuel Akanji to score the winner from 12 yards.
Guardiola said: “I enjoyed starting the season against our rival in Manchester – and to win a title is good. We are really pleased. We could have lost today. We were close to losing with minutes left. I saw many things today that I liked. The first 35 minutes were beyond excellent. Many players are still on holidays so we are far from our best. But it is better starting by winning a trophy.”
