Man City Loses Rodri Again Until September

JAKARTA - Manchester City has once again lost its key midfielder, Rodri, who suffered an injury while playing in the 2025 Club World Cup. Rodri suffered a groin injury that will keep him out until September 2025.

Man City was forced to start the season without Rodri. The injury, which he sustained during a pre-season warm-up match, forced him to be sidelined again.

Manager Pep Guardiola described his player as having suffered a "major injury" that prevented Rodri from playing for the Cityzens. Previously, the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner suffered an ACL injury that sidelined him for most of the season.

Without the Spanish national team midfielder, Man City failed to win a trophy in any competition. Their ambition of a record-breaking fifth consecutive Premier League title was dashed, and Man City almost fell out of the Champions League places.

Rodri had actually recovered by the end of the competition and was taken to the United States to warm up for the Club World Cup.

The 29-year-old midfielder appeared in four group stage matches, starting once.

Against Al Hilal in the Round of 16, Rodri came on for Ilkay Gundogan in the 53rd minute. However, he was later withdrawn due to a groin injury in injury time.

This was clearly a major loss for Man City, as Rodri sustained the injury in a mere warm-up match.

According to Guardiola, the injury will keep Rodri out for several weeks. Although his condition has improved and he can return to training, he is not expected to play again until September.

"Rodri's condition has improved. He had a major injury in the last match against Al Hilal," Guardiola said, as quoted on the club's website.

"We were actually hoping he could play a few minutes [in the Club World Cup]. The important thing is that he doesn't feel any pain anymore because we don't want Rodri to get injured again," he said.

"We tried to prevent him from getting injured again. But he did get injured again. However, he has participated in training in the last two sessions. This is certainly encouraging," Guardiola added.

In addition to Rodri, Man City will be without Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol, and new signing Claudio Echeverri. "Phil is showing good progress. He did have a problem with his ankle," he said.

However, Guardiola is confident that the three players will be available for Man City's opening match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 16, 2025.

On the other hand, Rodri will definitely not be able to play. "90 minutes for Rodri? I'm not sure," Guardiola said.