Manchester City confirm Rodri injury status with statement as midfielder returns to Spain

Manchester City have confirmed Rodri suffered a ligament injury to his right knee during the weekend draw against Premier League title rivals Arsenal.

Rodri went down while jostling for space at a corner with Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey midway through the first half in Sunday’s clash.

The Euro 2024 winner received extensive treatment on the pitch, before hobbling off the pitch, looking visibly distressed, and retiring to the dressing room for further assessments.

He did emerge to watch the remainder of the contest from the bench in the second half, before joining his team-mates on the pitch for the post-match debrief, with some questioning whether the injury was as bad as first feared.

However, reports emerged on Monday that a knee injury had been sustained, with it likely he wouldn’t feature for City again this season.

While City haven’t commented on the timescale, the Premier League champions confirmed on Wednesday morning Rodri will be out of action for some time.

The brief statement released to City’s official website read: “Manchester City FC can confirm that Rodri has suffered a ligament injury to his right knee. The injury was sustained during the first half of this weekend’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League.

“The midfielder travelled to Spain to seek specialist consultation this week, following initial tests in Manchester. Assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the injury and expected prognosis.

“Everyone at the club wishes him a speedy recovery and mancity.com will bring you regular updates regarding his rehabilitation.”

Speaking after City’s League Cup victory over Watford on Tuesday night, Pep Guardiola revealed: “Still we don’t have the definitive [diagnosis] but he will be out for a long time, a while. But there are some opinions that maybe it will be less than we expected.

“Unfortunately, he was injured, but right now I couldn’t tell you. We are waiting for the last phone calls from him and the doctors for what definitely he has and the type of surgery he has to get.

“He’s okay. He’s strong, sad of course, and waiting for the final decision of what he has to do. We don’t want it, but we will [still] have a good season.”

The only positive news as far as Guardiola is concerned, the Rodri injury has come at the start of a relatively manageable run of games for the Blues.

City don’t face any of last season’s top six until the end of November when they take on Spurs, by which Guardiola will have hoped to have found a solution to Rodri’s injury, even if it’s nothing more than a short-term fix.

The 2022/23 European champions return to action this weekend in the early kick-off against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.