Pep Guardiola confirms key Man City star ruled out of opening Chelsea fixture

Rodri won’t be available for Manchester City’s Premier League opener against Chelsea this weekend, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.

A key man for the Blues in recent seasons, Guardiola will have to make do and mend for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

It’s a major blow for Guardiola, not least because City lost all but one of the four Premier League fixtures Rodri didn’t feature in last season.

On the Spanish midfielder’s availability, Guardiola said: “He didn’t train. I didn’t see him yet. I think he feels good, but we will see when he starts to move his body how he feels.

“But no chance [for Chelsea].”

Rodri limped off at half-time during Spain’s Euro 2024 final victory over England with a suspected knee injury.

Guardiola remained coy on Rodri’s return date, with the City boss stressing the club aren’t taking any chances with his recovery.

It comes amid transfer speculation linking the Premier League champions to Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes.

But when asked about any potential transfer dealings between now and this month’s deadline, Guardiola kept his cards close to his chest.

Guardiola said: “Maybe, or maybe not! We’ll see I’m really pleased with the squad we have. I know the vibe is, ‘We have to sign! We have to sign!’ We will see.”

As for players already in the City squad who could forge a role this season, Guardiola admitted the door hasn’t shut for Joao Cancelo at the Etihad Stadium.

Sent out on loan to Bayern Munich in January 2022, Cancelo returned to City last summer before securing another short-term move to Barcelona.

However, on the prospect of the Portuguese ace working his way back into the team, Guardiola said: “He’s training with us. We will see [on his future]. Maybe he stays at Man City, maybe he goes on loan, maybe.

“I don’t know yet, he’s training with us, behaving really well in the training session, he loves to play football, he loves to train.

He added: “In training we say ‘hi’, we talk, and trained. That’s all. About what’s going to happen, it depends on his agent and the club. And at the end, if he has to stay, we will treat him like all the other players we have done since I’ve been here.”

Guardiola later confirmed City hadn’t received any proposals for Cancelo.

It promises to be a hectic season for the Etihad Stadium outfit, both on an off the pitch.

Guardiola’s current contract is due to expire at the end of the campaign, with talk the Catalan could leave starting to gather pace.

Then there’s also the small matter of City’s outstanding 115 charges from the Premier League. It’s expected a decision on the case will be confirmed before the end of the 2024/25 season.

City have always denied any wrongdoing.