Pep Guardiola has urged caution over Manchester City's returning midfielder Rodri after the Spaniard made his comeback this week.
Rodri will not start Manchester City's final game of the Premier League season even with Mateo Kovacic suspended.
Ballon d'Or winner Rodri has been injured since September but returned in Tuesday's win against Bournemouth to a huge ovation and is expected to be involved in the must-win clash at Fulham on Sunday. If City win, they will secure a Champions League place for next season, while a draw is likely to be enough.
However Rodri is not ready to start and Pep Guardiola even went as far as to predict that the Spaniard will be given a reduced role next season owing to his long-term injury. Before his lay-off, Rodri played almost every game for City in their run to winning the treble in 2022/23 and defending their Premier League title in 2023/24.
"I'm really pleased he's back, really pleased for the reaction from our people to him. But he's a long way to be what he was," Guardiola said before the trip to Fulham. "It will be next season when he will start to be the Rodri [we know] - not in the way we saw before the injury playing 70 games every three games, it will take even longer for that.
"Because the experience in this surgery, we have to be careful, otherwise he could have muscular problems. The first step is for his mind, still is not the Rodri we know."
However, Guardiola confirmed he is 'not ready to start,' and John Stones is the only player ruled out through injury on the final day. And he doubled down on his comments in the week that he does not want a bigger squad next season having joked that he will 'quit' if he has to leave multiple players out each week.
"I was laughing when I said that, I'm not going to quit," he clarified. "But the expression is the same, I don't want to have players at home when the team is playing.
"Everyone needs the chance to compete with each other for the best of all of us, that is the most important thing. When you have a lot of injuries like this season, if it happens it will be a big problem but we expect next season will be different. Knowing that a lot of games, no rest in the summer time.
"The last three weeks or a month, leaving four or five or six players at home is not healthy. For any of us, for the club, me, anyone. The club knows it and completely agrees with me, we're going to find the best way for all of us."
--
Here at The Manchester Evening News, we're dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get the club's breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.
And, finally, if you'd rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.