Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has decided to bring Rodri back into the squad for the penultimate game of the season
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Rodri
Rodri
Rodri is back in the Manchester City squad for the first time in eight months after recovering from the ACL injury he suffered against Arsenal. The Ballon d'Or winner has been recalled for the crunch Premier League game with Bournemouth and will hope to get back on the pitch to show what he can do.
Pep Guardiola did not expect Rodri to return this season, and has regularly cautioned against the player's wish to come back so soon. Wary of the setbacks that can occur when players try to rush their way back from serious injuries, the City manager was happy to wait until next season before welcoming the midfielder back.
However, Rodri has been determined to play again this season since he first broke down in September. After completing the first part of his rehabilitation in Madrid, he came to Manchester in the New Year and has been doing his training with the rest of the squad for around a month.
Guardiola was happy to let the doctors decide when Rodri can be used again and the Spaniard has been given the green light for Tuesday's match with Bournemouth. After 241 days, and 50 games, the best player in the world is available to City again.
City were still title contenders when Rodri last played but are now scrapping to confirm a top-five finish that will ensure they can play Champions League football next season. They need four points from their final two games of the season and will be trying to get all three at home to Bournemouth to reduce the pressure for Sunday's trip to Fulham.
Guardiola spoke at the weekend and before this game about the difficulty of leaving players out. James McAtee and Rico Lewis were not in the squad for the FA Cup Final while Jack Grealish was left on the bench at Wembley while debutant Claudio Echeverri came on instead.
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"There is not one player in my locker room, and I think all the locker rooms in and around the world, that they are happy or they are not happy, or have bad faces, because players don't play. I never, never see that," said Guardiola
"Of course they are unsatisfied, but not just Jack. Macca and Rico were and Kova, who was a little bit injured and I didn't want to expose that. And all the players are unhappy, and they let you know that they aren't happy.
"We're in situations when the team is winning, winning, they have to figure out that everything happened, but they aren't happy. They are here to play, and they don't play, they are unsatisfied. That is a normal position in all the clubs."
City take on Bournemouth at 8pm on Tuesday night in what will also be Kevin De Bruyne's final home game at the Etihad after ten years with the club.
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