The worst news for Man City after their game against Arsenal wasn’t the fact that they weren’t able to breach the 10 men more than once in the second half and earn a win, but that Rodri’s knee injury was likely to keep him out for the season.
At the time of writing, the exact amount of time that the Spaniard will be on the sidelines isn’t clear, though it will be months rather than weeks before he returns.
Man City make Kalvin Phillips decision after Rodri injury
Given that Pep Guardiola won’t want to rush his star man back – and he said as much in quotes run by CaughtOffside columnist and transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, on X (formerly Twitter) – it may well be the start of the 2025/26 campaign before Rodri pulls on the sky blue shirt again.
??? Pep Guardiola on Rodri's injury: "One doctor said it's a big, big injury… the other said not as much, so we'll see".
"Now it's important to support him. Safe recovery, I would say not even a speedy recovery. Safe recovery for his future, for his career". pic.twitter.com/pVCftO29Vf
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 25, 2024
In his absence, City are going to have to plug the huge gap that remains, and thoughts quickly turned to Kalvin Phillips, who is currently on loan at Ipswich Town.
Though never a Guardiola favourite, a chance for Phillips to re-establish himself in the City starting XI has presented itself.
Unfortunately for the former England international, Rodri’s injury has made no difference to his manager’s decision to allow him to move to the East Anglian side.
According to Football Insider sources, City, perhaps surprisingly given their predicament, have no plans whatsoever to recall Phillips from his loan.
In many respects that’s probably the best case scenario for the player, given the enormous amount of pressure he would be under if he returned to City and was being seen as Rodri’s ‘replacement.’
Instead, he can concentrate on repairing his image whilst under Kieran McKenna’s expert tutelage and, if the stars align, easing himself back onto the international stage.
Top photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images