“I’m 100% convinced” – Pep Guardiola assesses Rodri’s long-term Manchester City prospects amid injury woes | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has candidly assessed Rodri’s fitness and his expectations of the Ballon d’Or winner as the 2025-26 season progresses.

Rodri is undergoing a fitness rut after suffering several injury setbacks since the 29-year-old made his long-awaited return to action in May – after spending nearly nine months on the sidelines to recover from an ACL rupture sustained in September 2024.

The Spain international stepped up his fitness at the FIFA Club World Cup in June but returned from the United States with the recurrence of a knee problem, which delayed his start to the 2025-26 season as Manchester City placed their faith in January signing Nico Gonzalez to hold down the fort in midfield.

After missing City’s opening day win away at Wolves, Rodri came off the bench in the following week against Tottenham and went on to get a positive run of starts under his belt between August and October as Guardiola’s side turned a corner following a slugging start to the season.

However, it was one step forward two steps back for the former Atletico Madrid man, who pulled his hamstring early into Manchester City’s 1-0 win away at Brentford in early October, which kept Rodri on the sidelines for the subsequent three weeks.

Speaking in a press conference ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League meeting with Liverpool on Sunday, Guardiola addressed concerns over Rodri’s setbacks lasting throughout the 2025-26 season.

“I’m 100% convinced he will be back and he will play,” the Manchester City manager said on Rodri in a press conference on Friday. “Maybe it will take a little bit of time to reach the level that he had. But to play the game, game, game – he’s going to do it. It’s just we have to be sure the moment is there.”

As he did in May, Rodri returned to action last weekend in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth, though there remain huge question marks over whether Guardiola can deploy the Ballon d’Or winning midfielder from the off anytime soon.

On how he will assess when Rodri is fit enough to return to playing regularly, Guardiola added: “It’s always I say the same; you believe me Rodri can play one game a week. You’re looking at 70%, 75% of the games in the Premier League.

“The problem is you play Sunday, and after Tuesday, and after Saturday, and after Wednesday, and after that you go to a national team and this is another type of competition. The teams who play in Europe in that level is another competition, taking experience from the managers.

“So it’s another way and the players are the same. You play one game a week, oh my God, you will recover perfectly. The problem is every three, four days, every three, four days and now we have to handle that, not just with Rodri, especially with Rodri, because we knew it, it was a long, long injury.

“And when it’s a long injury, history says the year after, you have slightly, slightly problems. I try to avoid it, we are desperate to avoid it, not (just) for Rodri, for all of them. But it happened, because the statistics say that the muscular (injuries) and the setbacks are because you have been one year. Stop! And you come back to one game a week, you’ll recover fine.

“But it’s so demanding. And me as a manager, when I see Rodri and the doctors and the physios say, ‘Rodri’s ready’? He’s going to play, my friend. He’s going to play! And we have to be careful from now on, be careful, and be sure you cannot step back.”

Guardiola has admitted that Rodri is unlikely to be risked against Liverpool ahead of the November international break, with Nico Gonzalez expected to retain his place in the number six position following an impressive run of performances from the 23-year-old.