Rodri to undergo surgery on back injury as Real Madrid grow in confidence over Man City deal | OneFootball

Manchester City have been dealt a significant blow ahead of their first season under Enzo Maresca, with Spain international Rodri set to undergo surgery on a back injury with no confirmed timetable for his return, as per a new report.

The 30-year-old had been one of the central figures of Spain’s triumphant FIFA World Cup campaign in North America, winning the Golden Ball award after leading La Roja to their second World Cup title with a commanding 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday’s final in New Jersey.

His performances in North America appeared to have put behind him the injury struggles that defined his 2024-25 campaign, in which a ruptured ACL kept him sidelined for approximately 220 days and more than 50 matches.

Last season, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner managed to start just 17 Premier League fixtures, continuing an injury pattern that has robbed City of their most irreplaceable player at crucial moments across two consecutive campaigns.

The news of back surgery arrives at a particularly difficult moment for director of football Hugo Viana, who has spent the summer building the structural foundations of newly-appointed City manager Enzo Maresca‘s squad in part around the assumption that a World Cup-winning Rodri would be available from the outset of the new campaign.

Report: No return timetable as Rodri heads for back surgery

According to Sam Lee and Guillermo Rai of The Athletic, Rodri will undergo surgery on a back injury, with no timetable for his return to action currently established ahead of the procedure.

The absence of a confirmed recovery timeline represents the most concerning element of the update, with City and their supporters unable to plan around a specific return date until the surgery has been completed and medical staff can better assess the rehabilitation required.

Previous reporting from Spain had suggested Rodri’s back issue was minor in nature and that any procedure would be relatively straightforward, with one outlet describing an expected recovery that would see him available for the start of the 2026-27 season. The Athletic’s update does not confirm that optimistic framing, instead reporting that a concrete return period will only be established post-surgery.

Lee and Rai also note that Rodri’s contract situation at the Etihad Stadium remains unresolved, with a contract offer still understood to be on the table but talks currently not thought to be active – adding a further layer of complexity to a situation that was already among the most significant on Manchester City’s agenda heading into the new season.

What does Rodri’s surgery mean for Man City’s 2026-27 plans?

The timing of the surgery raises immediate questions for Maresca and Viana over how Manchester City will cope in the opening weeks of the campaign without the player widely regarded as the most influential defensive midfielder in world football during his periods of fitness.

The £116 million signing of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest provides a layer of midfield reinforcement that City did not have at the equivalent juncture last season, and Anderson’s ability to cover significant ground and operate at the base of the midfield in a similar manner to Rodri gives Maresca a degree of adaptability that his predecessor lacked when Rodri was unavailable.

Nico Gonzalez and Mateo Kovacic are also likely to see considerably more involvement while Rodri is sidelined, though the futures of both players under Maresca remain the subject of ongoing speculation, with neither guaranteed to be part of the squad when the Premier League season gets underway.

Whether the surgery delivers the clean bill of health that allows Rodri to return as the dominant force he was during Spain’s World Cup campaign, or whether the recurring injury issues of the past two seasons represent a longer-term concern for a player with just one year remaining on his contract, is now the defining question hanging over one of the most consequential figures in Manchester City’s recent history.