Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed on Friday that midfielder Rodri would miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Rodri sustained the knee injury during City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal and traveled to Spain for tests earlier in the week. Guardiola revealed that the Spain international had successfully undergone the operation and would be sidelined for the rest of the campaign.
“Surgery this morning, ACL. Next season he will be here. This season is over. Unfortunately we got the worst [news] but these things happen. We will be there to support him in his recovery step-by-step,” Guardiola said.
Rodri’s absence is a significant blow to City, who struggled to cope without him last season. Guardiola has previously described the 28-year-old as “irreplaceable” but said he has options in midfield, including Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gündogan, and even defender John Stones.
What he gives us, we don’t have a similar player,” Guardiola said. The City manager also confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne would miss the trip to Newcastle on Saturday due to a thigh injury.
But the others can all together replace what Rodri has given since his arrival to us. We will have to do it as a team and find a way to play a lot of matches without an important player for us. Mateo Kovacic, and I have a few more. Ilkay Gündogan can play in that position, John Stones [has] too. We have alternatives.”
Guardiola also left the door open to potentially signing a replacement for Rodri in the January transfer window. Last season’s backup, Kalvin Phillips, has joined Ipswich Town on loan, and the City boss suggested that the club could explore bringing in another midfielder if the opportunity arises.
“We will see,” he said. “We talked today with [sporting director] Txiki [Begiristain] and we’ll see how it’s going. We don’t have to decide tomorrow, right? We have time to see potential problems we have, and we’ll see.”
