Manchester City look set to be without their star midfielder Rodri for the remainder of the season thanks to the serious injury suffered on Sunday.
The midfielder appears to have suffered a torn ACL during Man City’s heavyweight Super Sunday clash with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
The ailment to their best midfielder, and most important player, leaves Man City in a bit of a pickle in the middle of the park. However, luckily for them, the January transfer window will provide them with an opportunity to fill the void left by Rodri.
Here’s the four best options available to the club in January.
OK, let’s get the most obvious choice out of the way first.
As his performance when coming off the bench to replace a stricken Rodri in the Euro 2024 final attests, Martin Zubimendi is more than capable of filling the void left by his Spanish counterpart in midfield.
Zubimendi has the same rare abilities that Rodri possesses, as he is equally adept both in and out of possession – regularly winning over 90% of his duels and completing over 90% of his passes for current club Real Sociedad.
While Liverpool failed to lure the midfielder away from his boyhood club in the summer, the opportunity to work with the arguably the greatest manager of all time in Pep Guardiola may be too good to turned down come January.
If Man City would prefer to look a bit closer to home for a player they could develop over the course of a few years to eventually permanently replace Rodri, then Adam Wharton could be their man.
Over the last eight months, the 20-year-old has burst onto the scene to become one of the most talked about young midfielders in Europe, thanks in large part to his ability to control the tempo of a game from the heart of the midfield.
In many ways, his style of play screams ‘Pep Guardiola’. And a bit of coaching from Guardiola would certainly take his game to the next level.
Another player who has previously been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool, Ederson has been touted for a big move away from Atalanta for the last few seasons.
And judging on his performances in Bergamo, it’s easy to see what all the fuss has been about.
The 25-year-old has been the bruiser at the heart of Atalanta’s midfield since he was plucked from Salernitana back in 2022, allowing his more creative teammates to go and carve opponents open without too much fear of leaving their own team high and dry defensively.
That’s not the only feather on Ederson’s bow though. Perhaps unlike any other player on this list, he can also find the back of the net with similar regularity to Rodri – having scored just two less goals than the Spanish international in all competitions in 2023/24.
England fans probably shuddered reading the name ‘Morten Hjulmand’ after his showing at Euro 2024 against the Three Lions.
The Danish star utterly dominated England’s midfield during their group stage clash in Frankfurt, capping off a wonderful performance with a long-range goal which earned his nation a 1-1 draw.
At club level for Sporting CP, Hjulmand has been pretty damn good in recent years too.
Perhaps above every other trait he has, the most alluring one from a Man City perspective is his leadership qualities. Having earned the Sporting CP captain’s armband after just one season at the club, it’s clear that Hjulmand could come in and replace Rodri as the vocal leader at the heart of City’s midfield.
READ THE LATEST FEATURES AND ANALYSIS FROM 90MIN
