Rodri Out After Back Surgery as Manchester City Prepares for New Season

Manchester City will begin the Enzo Maresca era without their midfield metronome, with Rodri ruled out for what the club describe as a “short period of rehabilitation” following back surgery.

Maresca revealed on Friday that the Spain international was due to go under the knife on Monday, stressing that his player needed more than just medical intervention.

“He needs a holiday, he needs to rest and recover and then he will be back with us,” the new City manager said, underlining the physical and mental toll of the past two years on a footballer who has carried club and country.

City have not put a date on Rodri’s return. No bold promises, no pencilled-in comeback. Just a gap in the middle of the pitch and a crucial stretch of the calendar looming.

They face Arsenal in the Community Shield on 16 August, a curtain-raiser that usually sets the tone for the months ahead, before opening their Premier League campaign against Bournemouth on 23 August. Two fixtures, two very different tests, both likely without the man who so often dictates their rhythm.

The club confirmed that Rodri had “been feeling discomfort for some time but has now undergone a procedure to address the issue.” The problem has clearly been lingering. City have chosen to confront it now, rather than carry it into another season.

A battered body, a pivotal summer

Rodri’s body has been through a brutal cycle. His past two seasons have been repeatedly interrupted by injury, the most serious a torn anterior cruciate ligament that wiped out most of City’s 2024-25 campaign for him. Each time he has come back, he has been asked to go again at full tilt, for club and for country.

And still he delivered on the biggest stage. This month he guided Spain to World Cup glory and walked away with the player of the tournament award, a fitting recognition of his authority and influence at the heart of Luis de la Fuente’s side.

Those performances have only intensified the noise around his future. Rodri has just one year left on his City contract and has been heavily linked with Real Madrid, a move that would send shockwaves through both Manchester and Madrid if it ever materialised. For now, though, the focus is on his back, not his next club.

Maresca inherits a squad accustomed to success but also to the stability that Rodri brings. Take him out and the structure changes. The tempo changes. The risk level rises. City have navigated injury storms before, yet losing their on-field organiser again, even briefly, is a test of depth and adaptability at a delicate moment.

Gvardiol commits as City look long term

While Rodri heads for rehab and reflection, another pillar of City’s future has been nailed down.

As reported by BBC Sport in June, Josko Gvardiol has signed a new five-year contract, tying the Croatia defender to the club until the summer of 2031. It is a statement of faith in a player who has settled quickly into the demands of English football.

Since arriving from RB Leipzig in August 2023, the 24-year-old has racked up 122 appearances and already collected six trophies, including a Premier League title in his debut season. Those numbers speak to trust from the coaching staff and resilience from the player.

Gvardiol’s extension offers City defensive continuity at a time when the midfield picture feels less certain. One cornerstone secured, another temporarily removed.

Maresca’s first months in charge will now unfold without his most reliable midfielder but with a back line built around a long-term commitment. How City bridge the Rodri gap, and how quickly he returns from this latest setback, may go a long way to defining what comes next.