**Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has doubled down on the importance of Rodri to his side’s silverware aspirations this season.**
Rodri has recently returned from a hamstring injury he sustained in October 2025 – the latest of a range of fitness setbacks the 29-year-old has suffered since making his long-awaited return to action from a lengthy ACL layoff.
The Spain international will take time to return to his peak as he starts more games, having scored his first goal for Manchester City in over 600 days in a 10-1 rout of Exeter City in the FA Cup last week.
While Nico Gonzalez has thrived in Rodri’s absence, Guardiola will be delighted to welcome back the Ballon d’Or winner to fitness ahead of Saturday’s must-win Premier League derby clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the derby, Guardiola was asked whether the presence of Rodri in the Manchester City squad gives everyone a lift.
“The composure and the quality and everything Rodri has, we don’t have it. But not just here, in many, many teams,” Guardiola said on Friday afternoon.
“But the reason why he didn’t be in 90, 90 minutes is just to protect him. After the game against Chelsea, it was demanding, he didn’t feel well to play again and again.
“So that’s why we tried to handle the minutes, but he’s getting better. So now we have the feeling he is getting better.”
Guardiola is optimistic that Rodri will be able to start week-in, week-out sooner rather than later as Manchester City embark upon the second half of a season wherein they are still in the running for silverware on four fronts.
“Hopefully soon, yeah. But the problem with Rodri is it’s 90 minutes and after when he’s able to play 90 more in how many days,” Guardiola added.
“So we play 90 minutes tomorrow (against Manchester United) and still I’ve not decided if he will be able to play in Norway (against Bodo/Glimt) – an important game that we have. So I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Rodri became the first player in Manchester City history to be awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 2024, seeing off competition from the likes of Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham to make history.
On whether he is confident that Rodri will return to being the best player in the world again, Guardiola said: “With time, yeah. (A long time?) With time he will be back yeah. Without the setbacks, he will be back because he has something natural in his body that is always there.”
Gonzalez has not been ruled out of featuring against Manchester United, with the stakes as high as ever for the Blues in the red half of town after dropping six points in their last three Premier League games against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton.