Manchester City have undoubtedly missed Rodri throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
The Man City midfielder missed the majority of the season after suffering a long-term knee injury against Arsenal back in September, which had a huge impact on Pep Guardiola’s squad as they went the season without a trophy.
Man City fans were over the moon when Rodri returned against Bournemouth this month, and the Spaniard is now set to play a key role in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer, which will help the 28-year-old regain match sharpness before the new Premier League season gets underway.
Recently, Paul Scholes was asked to pick the best midfielder in the English top flight, and the former Man United player decided between Rodri and Bruno Fernandes.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Paul Scholes thinks Rodri is better than Bruno Fernandes
Last year, Rodri reached the peak for every footballer as the Man City star was crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, which is by far the biggest individual award in the sport.
Man United’s Fernandes is far away from achieving this, however, Scholes believes the Portuguese star is the second-best midfielder in the Premier League, with only Man City’s Rodri ‘just’ ahead of him, having been asked by the Daily Mail’s TikTok account to battle the best from the English top flight.
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Scholes previously said that Kevin De Bruyne was the best midfielder in the world, and that may have been the pundit’s real choice, however, the Belgian was not in the running.
Many will agree with the former Man United star in picking Rodri over Fernandes, as not only is the Euro 2024 winner a better individual, but the Portuguese star is a long way off matching the career the 28-year-old has had.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
How Rodri and Bruno Fernandes’ Premier League careers compare
Rodri has been with Man City since 2019, arriving just a few months before Fernandes did at Man United during the January transfer window of 2020.
Since then, the club careers of both have gone very differently, as the Spaniard has been part of a treble-winning team and won four Premier League titles in a row, while the Portuguese star has just won an FA Cup and an EFL Cup.
Player Games Goals Assists Trophies
Rodri 261 26 31 11
Bruno Fernandes 290 98 87 2
Rodri and Bruno Fernandes’ Premier League careers in numbers
The quality of both teams has had a big impact on this though, which makes it hard to compare both as Fernandes has still been impressive in a poor Man United team.
However, the easiest way to calculate the impact they have had on their team is their performances in big games, and this season’s Europa League final was one of many where the United midfielder went missing.
As for Rodri, the Spanish star scored the winner in the Champions League final in 2023, amongst many other key moments, such as netting on the final day of the 2022 Premier League season.