Maresca on Replacing Rodri: The Search for a New Midfield Anchor

Enzo Maresca has barely taken his seat in the Manchester City dugout and already he is dealing with the kind of departure that can redefine an era.

Rodri, the metronome of City's midfield, has gone. A World Cup winner, a Ballon d'Or recipient, and the anchor of four Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph, he has swapped the Etihad for Barcelona, ending a seven-year stay that underpinned Pep Guardiola’s dominance.

The hole he leaves is obvious. Maresca did not bother to pretend otherwise.

“I'll try to find a new Rodri – it is what it is,” the City manager said, laying out the scale of the task as plainly as possible.

Rodri did not arrive in Manchester as the finished article. Maresca was quick to remind everyone of that.

“Rodri, before he arrived here, he didn't win the Ballon d'Or, he didn't win the Champions League, he didn't win the Club World Cup. Then he joined the club and then after he achieved many important things.

“Now the target for us is to try to find the new Rodri.”

A familiar City cycle

This is not the first time City have watched a pillar of their project walk away. The pattern is almost part of the club’s identity now.

“When David Silva was here, everyone was worried – Kevin (De Bruyne) arrived,” Maresca said. “When Sergio Aguero was here, everyone was worried – Erling (Haaland) arrived. When Ferdinando left, Rodri arrived. It's just about this.

“When they leave, you need to be good and recruit the next one.”

The message was clear: City have rebuilt before, and they intend to do it again.

They will need to. Rodri is only the headline name in a long list of exits that has stripped away much of the old guard in a single summer.

• Bernardo Silva
• John Stones
• Nathan Ake
• Tijjani Reijnders

have all left the club in the close season, taking with them experience, versatility and continuity. Savinho is set to join Tottenham, potentially alongside Omar Marmoush, while Nico Gonzalez could also be on his way before the window shuts.

This is not a gentle refresh. It is a full-scale reshaping of a title-winning squad.

Thin arrivals, thick pressure

Against that backdrop, City’s incoming business looks light. So far, only midfielder Elliot Anderson has arrived as a major signing, a modest addition compared to the names heading out of the door.

Maresca, though, refused to sound alarmed ahead of Sunday’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth.

“Hopefully we can do the things that we need to do,” he said. “It doesn't help that there are players that for different reasons want to leave, this is for sure.

“But we need to adapt and we don't want to keep players here that don't want to stay.”

The reality of the modern market looms over all of it. Clubs hold their nerve, drag negotiations out, squeeze every last pound from deals.

“The normal thing in transfer windows is that you have to wait because all the clubs try to keep players until the last week and then sell for more money,” Maresca said. “It's normal, I'm not worried about that.

“When the transfer window closes and we have all the squad there, for sure it will be different.”

For now, City step into a new season without the man who defined their midfield for seven years. The search for “the new Rodri” has begun. How quickly they find him may decide whether their era of dominance continues or finally starts to crack.