This is our worst nightmare coming to fruition... It's a scenario many warned against (including me), that we needed a player who can provide viable competition, & can rotate & rest with Rodri.
Kovacic has had an outstanding start to the season, which gave Rodders additional time off after another gruelling season, but he's suffered niggling injuries at times himself.
Nunes is essentially a £50m paperweight for all the use he's been.
Grealish has shown for England that he can be used effectively in the middle in a free role like he had at Villa, but City don't really do free roles. Rotating positions yes, but not a player choosing to play where he feels most effective.
Gundog has made a timely return, but I've never thought he has the physicality to be a No 6, especially now at his age. He's best as a creative No 8 all day long.
My thoughts are, we'll have to rely on a combination of all the above, with Lewis, Stones, Akanji & maybe Gvardiol stepping into midfield to form a double pivot.
Our squad is well stacked, however this season echoes the seasons we had after Kompany left & Aguero was mostly injured toward the end of his career at City. We lacked the depth to cover them with like for like.
The other obvious position which is a concern is Striker. I'm not a square pegs in round holes for a season, type of person. Striker & CDM were two obvious weak areas of depth for us, & I suppose we'll soon find out if Txiki & Pep should've been more proactive in covering those positions.
It'll be interesting to see what Baldy does to mitigate the loss of Rodri & to protect Haaland as the season progresses.
