Despite beating Brentford away over the weekend, Manchester City got some bad news on the injury front. Key midfielder Rodri had to be taken off with just 20 minutes gone due to a suspected hamstring issue.
Of course, the 29-year-old has struggled with injury issues since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament last season.
Thankfully for City fans, the former Atletico Madrid star gave an encouraging update, explaining that the injury “seems like it's not that much,” and suggesting he could even be fit for the first game after the international break against Everton. Surely Pep Guardiola will want to make sure his first-choice number six is 100% fit before playing him again.
Rodri
Frustratingly, one of City’s former academy stars, Romeo Lavia, could have softened the blow of Rodri’s absence.
Why Lavia could have replaced Rodri
As they have tended to do with academy stars over the past few years, City did an excellent job of selling Lavia. He joined Southampton back in 2022 for a fee of up to £14m, despite only playing once for the first team at the Etihad Stadium.
lavia-southampton-liverpool-transfer-gossip-klopp
He impressed so much on the South Coast that the former Anderlecht academy star got a big move to Chelsea the summer after. At Stamford Bridge, opportunities have been scarce for Lavia due to injury problems of his own.
However, he’s worked hard to build back to full fitness and is now looking to cement himself as a key part of Enzo Maresca’s midfield.
In total, the Belgian has only made 25 appearances for the Blues, with just two coming this season. The majority of them have come at the base of Maresca’s midfield, where he’s been able to screen the back four and show his excellent progressive carrying skills.
Lavia showed what he is all about in Chelsea’s recent 2-1 win over Liverpool. He came off the bench at Stamford Bridge last weekend, and his cameo was enough to earn him a 7/10 rating from The Standard journalist Dom Smith. He said the 21-year-old put in a 'good display' against the Reds.
Chelsea's Romeo Lavia arrives at the stadium
Yet, with the amount the injury-prone starlet has featured for Chelsea, he may not have been the right player to operate as Rodri’s understudy. They recently let the perfect backup slip through the cracks.
Man City sold the perfect Rodri understudy
Standing in for Rodri in the City squad is certainly no easy task. Lavia has the quality, but his injury issues mean his availability might not have been what City needed. At the club, the likes of Nico Gonzalez and Kalvin Phillips are at Guardiola’s disposal.
However, the man who could have seamlessly slotted into the starting lineup in Rodri’s absence, which is a regular occurrence these days, was sold in the summer for just £13m. Maximo Perrone made the permanent move to Serie A side Como after a season-long loan in Italy.
Perrone
After joining City in 2023 from Argentine side Velez Sarsfield, Perrone never really managed to nail down a place in the side. He only made two appearances for the first team at the Etihad Stadium in the treble-winning season of 2022/23, before moving on loan to Las Palmas and then Como, where he now plies his trade.
So far, the 22-year-old has made 33 appearances for Cesc Fabregas’ side. The defensive midfielder has cemented his spot in the starting lineup, playing 90 minutes in each of the last three games and scoring his first goal for the club last weekend.
Perrone would have been “an ideal Rodri back-up,” according to football analyst Ben Mattinson.
Well, his underlying numbers from last season show just why. For example, the midfielder averaged 2.81 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes, ranking him in the 63rd percentile of Serie A midfielders.
Perrone - 24/25 vs. Serie A midfielders
Stat (per 90)
Passes completed
Key passes
Tackles won
Interceptions
Clearnaces
Stats from FBref
Perrone certainly feels like one that got away from this City squad. With his profile, a progressive ball-winner in the middle of the park, he could have seamlessly fitted into the City side in Rodri’s absence.
Maximo-Perrone-Man-City-
Letting him go for such a cheap fee in the summer could be a big error by City, especially with Rodri’s persistent injury issues.