Rodri was easing his way back to fitness at the Club World Cup but the Manchester City midfielder picked up an injury in the defeat to Al Hilal
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Rodri
Rodri suffered an injury setback at the end of City's Club World Cup campaign
Pep Guardiola knew there was always a chance that Rodri would suffer some kind of setback as he eased his way back into action for Manchester City, and so it proved in the Club World Cup.
After 172 minutes of getting rid of the rust and getting back into the groove, the Ballon d'Or winner felt something and having come as a substitute against Al Hilal, he departed the scene at the Camping World Stadium.
In the aftermath of City's shock defeat to the Saudi Pro League side, wasn't a major talking point. He walked off the pitch without any signs of real discomfort and afterwards Guardiola only said that "he complained about his situation".
It appeared a minor setback and that isn't unusual. The 29-year-old had made an impressive recovery from the ACL injury he picked up in September, but players returning from such a serious injury often find that a return to the rigours and demands of training and games can place a strain on muscles that have had a little easier for several months, which is something hinted at towards the end of last season.
"The moment the official doctor says Rodri can start to play minutes, after that he will start to play minutes, but the doctors have to tell me," said Guardiola.
"It was a difficult injury. It was an injury seven to 11 months, the doctor said. Every day Rodri is making more sessions but we have to wait so he doesn’t make a step backwards and get injured again so we have to be careful.
"Every training session he feels better and when the doctor says Rodri is stable and can start to play. After that, he is going to come back.”
Rodri had certainly begun to look sharper in the United States, benefitting from the block of training sessions and the chance to ease himself back into action, but there was always likely to be something to stop him in his tracks at some point.
The squad have now jetted off on holiday, given a four-week break by Guardiola after their Club World Cup exit, so Rodri has plenty of time to get himself fit again for the resumption of pre-season training on July 28.
As handy as the tournament was for him, the unexpectedly premature end for City does mean that he didn't get the mileage he wanted in the legs, either in training or in games, and even if he fit to train at the end of July, the process of building up his match fitness will start again.
Guardiola's stated aim has been to have Rodri back and ready to go at full speed by the time the Premier League season begins on August 16. There is still time to achieve that, but his setback and City's defeat in America will make it a little more complicated.
The Blues could yet play a friendly or two in the three weeks between returning to pre-season training and their first Premier League assignment at Molineux. Rodri would certainly benefit from a couple of tune-ups, even if they are behind-closed-doors games designed to get match fitness into players.
He is the one most likely to need game time. Without it he might well find himself being eased into the Premier League season, with the aim of avoiding any more fitness setbacks, no matter how minor.
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