Arsenal have strengthened significantly across the summer in order to bring them closer to their longed-for first English top-flight title since the Invincibles season of 2003/04.
Third place not enough for Man City
Reigning champions Liverpool have been similarly active as they look to earn themselves back-to-back titles and become the most successful club in the country in terms of league titles won – (they’re currently level on 20 with Manchester United).
Recent serial winners, Manchester City, had an awful season in 2024/25, even if many clubs would settle for third place.
Considering that Pep Guardiola‘s side had won six of the previous seven Premier League titles, the bronze medal position was never going to be enough, particularly as they came up short in every other competition too, beaten by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final and by Al Hilal in the Club World Cup, which was their last chance of silverware.
Far too many players were below par and for long periods of the campaign. However, injuries to key players do also need to be taken into account.
Haaland and Rodri were missed
For example, Erling Haaland was sidelined for 42 days of the campaign and missed eight games as a result, but by far Pep’s biggest issue was the injury to Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder, Rodri.
His cruciate ligament tear at the start of last season kept him out for 47 matches and 236 days.
Whilst one player clearly doesn’t make a team, the Spaniard was the beating heart of Pep’s City side, in much the same way Sergio Busquets was when Guardiola was at Barcelona.
His particular set of skills has proven to be unmatched, so the Cityzens were always going to struggle to some degree in his absence.
Given that he didn’t return until very late into the season, it couldn’t be determined with any accuracy if he had come back as good as new.
Rodri’s incredible stats in 2023/24
Here was a player that in 2023/24 scored eight goals and provided nine assists despite being a defensive midfielder. Only Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden bettered that ouput across the campaign.
Kevin De Bruyne was the only other City regular who didn’t lose a game that he played in that season, but Rodri played in more than double the number of matches thanks to the Belgian’s injury concerns, which is a remarkable feat when you think about it.
Where the Spaniard really excelled, however, was with regards to his passing.
He was the only player in the squad to make more than 3,000 passes (3,721), of which 3440 were accurate. That was at least 1000 more passes attempted than anyone else, and an elite level accuracy of 92.5% makes it quite the standout statistic.
In short, the way in which City played was dictated by Rodri. He was that important.
The squad managed in his absence, of course, but weren’t even close to the machine that they’d become without the conductor of their orchestra present.
Real Madrid are circling
Ahead of the new season, when everyone should be getting excited about what’s to come, Man City are looking over their shoulders as Real Madrid have come into the picture.
According to multiple reports, Xabi Alonso wants Rodri back in the Spanish capital (the midfielder was born there and has an Atletico Madrid past) and Los Blancos are, apparently, willing to offer in the region of £100m to secure the 29-year-old.
What makes it an interesting proposition is that Guardiola has always famously said in the past that he will never stand in a player’s way if they want to leave the club. He might make an attempt to persuade them to stay, but would appear to accept their final decision.
Important players such as Cole Palmer leaving for Chelsea would be evidence of that stance, however, the contention one might have is that Palmer wasn’t necessarily established, whereas Rodri is clearly the finished article and one of the most important players in the squad.
Are Man City looking at younger players these days?
It’s certainly worth Pep considering Rodri’s age should any bid become official, and the issue of whether the midfielder is going to come back as good as he was before the injury.
What’s also noticeable is that of the five major signings that City have already made this summer, none of them are older than Tijjani Reijnders at 26 years of age.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (24), Rayan Cherki (21), James Trafford (22) and Sverre Nypan (18) are significantly younger.
Despite being in a healthy financial position too, £100m is still a lot for City to turn down for a player that will be 30 during the course of the upcoming season.
If they don’t accept, a new deal will almost certainly be placed on the table, and that will simply show the high regard that the club continue to hold Rodri in.
