16 | Rodri 2025/26

[JewelZee]

Let him go for free and he can end his career back in La Liga next summer. Still a valuable asset. We manged to keep Ederson one more season, we resisted Barcelona for Bernardo Silva and let him go for free.

We managed to keep Ederson for one year too many...

 

[eastmanc]

Wouldn't be surprised to see more jumping ship now Pep has left.

Two seasons of getting dicked in the CL. Two seasons without winning the league and now the appeal of playing under the greatest manager in the world has gone too.

It's not a sinking ship by any means and I'm actually quite positive and confident about the future but I could see how players heads might start getting turned a little bit easier than a few years ago.

Did heads get turned when Pep wasn't here? The likes of Sergio,Yaya, Silva and De Bruyne were all signed before Pep. Have more faith in the club, players love playing for us hence the amount who have stayed ten years . Did you not hear what Laporte said about the club. The grass is definitely not greener.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

Did heads get turned when Pep wasn't here? The likes of Sergio,Yaya, Silva and De Bruyne were all signed before Pep. Have more faith in the club, players love playing for us hence the amount who have stayed ten years .

To be fair those players were signing to join the project and weren’t at the elite level they became.

I think it’s different for a few of our players now. Who probably fancy a change and if the best manager in the world leaves, will probably consider leaving.

 

[eastmanc]

To be fair those players were signing to join the project and weren’t at the elite level they became.

I think it’s different for a few of our players now. Who probably fancy a change and if the best manager in the world leaves, will probably consider leaving.

Why! They can't follow Pep around as he doesn't have a club. If you haven't noticed players stay a long time at City and it's not all down to Pep, as great as he was.

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

I would love him to stay, but feel that the club see it similar to Sergio & KDB. Offering Rodri a huge new contract could put a hugh spanner in the works when it comes squad building if he keeps picking up injures
He'll soon be 30, if Madrid offer £60m i think the club should accept and invest in Tonali who would give us more bite in midfield or Wharton, who is closer to Rodris' metrpnic passing when we are dominating

There's more chance of Real buying me or you than there is of them offering anywhere near £60m for Rodri with a year left.

 

[foggy1974]

There's more chance of Real buying me or you than there is of them offering anywhere near £60m for Rodri with a year left.

It would be a hell of a gamble by Madrid to wait a year especially if Rodri were to prove his fitness & we get anywhere near winning the UCL

 

[Chappie]

Rumour is,he's been injured in training today.

 

[eastmanc]

To be fair those players were signing to join the project and weren’t at the elite level they became.

I think it’s different for a few of our players now. Who probably fancy a change and if the best manager in the world leaves, will probably consider leaving.

What Yaya and David Silva not elite level. What on earth are you talking about. One was at Barca winning Champions League and the other was in that great Spanish side that won everything at international level.

 

[Ric]

 

[bumbleblue]

Rumour is,he's been injured in training today.

Ffs.

 

[SirCascante16]

Rumour is,he's been injured in training today.

Where'd you see this?

 

[BringBackSwales]

Wouldn't be surprised to see more jumping ship now Pep has left.

Two seasons of getting dicked in the CL. Two seasons without winning the league and now the appeal of playing under the greatest manager in the world has gone too.

It's not a sinking ship by any means and I'm actually quite positive and confident about the future but I could see how players heads might start getting turned a little bit easier than a few years ago.

Fuck me if that’s you being positive…,

 

[blue_danube]

Did heads get turned when Pep wasn't here? The likes of Sergio,Yaya, Silva and De Bruyne were all signed before Pep. Have more faith in the club, players love playing for us hence the amount who have stayed ten years . Did you not hear what Laporte said about the club. The grass is definitely not greener.

Well that's why I'm still positive because I trust the club

But pre-Pep is different to post-Pep. Things don't just reset back to 10 years ago. There will be players that arrived during the Pep era that felt the prestige of playing under him because of his standing in football that they might not feel under other managers. It's just the reality.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

What Yaya and David Silva not elite level. What on earth are you talking about. One was at Barca winning Champions League and the other was in that great Spanish side that won everything at international level.

So they didn’t improve after joining city then?

Yaya in particular became one of the best players in Europe. I don’t think he was at Barcelona. David silva also stepped up.

I wouldn’t say they were elite/ best in the world when we signed them. I think that’s pretty reasonable to say, even though you apparently think it’s crazy

 

[eastmanc]

So they didn’t improve after joining city then?

Yaya in particular became one of the best players in Europe. I don’t think he was at Barcelona. David silva also stepped up.

I wouldn’t say they were elite/ best in the world when we signed them. I think that’s pretty reasonable to say, even though you apparently think it’s crazy

No they did improve as they got older but they were excellent players before we got them. In the case of David Silva he was wanted by Real but his 'party life's was a problem for them and Pep admitted that he wanted him at Barca, it's just that City wanted him more as David has alluded to later.p

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

No they did improve as they got older but they were excellent players before we got them. In the case of David Silva he was wanted by Real but his 'party life's was a problem for them and Pep admitted that he wanted him at Barca, it's just that City wanted him more as David has alluded to later.p

I’m not disagreeing with that or saying they weren’t though. Just that when we signed them they weren’t best in the world (elite). We developed them into those elite players.

 

[hammersmithlad]

May not be a popular opinion but I actually would be content in Rodders leaving on a free next season. We still need his experience & leadership for the new season but I can see similarities on his drop in performance levels to KDB’s in his final yrs with us.

Plus, his availability or lack of it is a growing concern if you’re going to sign him up for a new 2 or 3 year contract.

His intelligence & positional awareness is still top notch but I can’t see his physical abilities in catching up with players in an increasingly fast & furious Premier League midfield suddenly improving over these next few yrs. Not for a lack of trying, but more than likely to pickup further injuries.

Hopefully getting Anderson & even convincing Nico G. to stay & learn a further yr with Rodri could help our midfield in the long term.

The experience & leadership Rodders brings into next season far outweighs us selling him this summer for a modest price should he not want to sign a new contract.

 

[SirCascante16]

May not be a popular opinion but I actually would be content in Rodders leaving on a free next season. We still need his experience & leadership for the new season but I can see similarities on his drop in performance levels to KDB’s in his final yrs with us.

Plus, his availability or lack of it is a growing concern if you’re going to sign him up for a new 2 or 3 year contract.

His intelligence & positional awareness is still top notch but I can’t see his physical abilities in catching up with players in an increasingly fast & furious Premier League midfield suddenly improving over these next few yrs. Not for a lack of trying, but more than likely to pickup further injuries.

Hopefully getting Anderson & even convincing Nico G. to stay & learn a further yr with Rodri could help our midfield in the long term.

The experience & leadership Rodders brings into next season far outweighs us selling him this summer for a modest price should he not want to sign a new contract.

I'd understand if he left next season because he really doesn't get protection from the referees, he's targeted most games and he said it himself, he might not make it to 32 with how intense the league is and playing 60 games a season or however many it is. It depends on whoever else may leave and who we'd bring in as a replacement, because Rodri is the best we'll get all-round and we should keep him until 2029 if we can't get Joao Neves or Pavlovic.

Rodri's situation is different to KDB (for me, his performances never really dropped, he had the same impact on our team but was just injured too much), he is more attacking and he was what most consider 'injury prone' because he picked up the same injuries again and again, whereas Rodri's was ACL and it's different muscle injuries every time, which is natural within 24 months since that injury. Pep said it, others said it, he will be back to his best next season. Ballon d'Or level is so high, so maybe not that high but still very good and necessary for us in build-up, leadership, experience and suits a Maresca system.

The way the Premier League is heading, I think it works in cycles and it comes back around. This level of physicality and intensity is unsustainable, players will be burnt out and get too many injuries, the style of play will switch again to more possession, slower tempo, technical, individual.

All we need is Anderson next to him and Cherki is improving out of possession, we should be fine with Rodri for a couple years as long as we find the right replacement after him.