Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who lifted the World Cup with Spain last week and was named the tournament’s best player, will undergo back surgery next week, coach Enzo Maresca has confirmed.

Maresca, speaking at his own unveiling as Man City’s new manager on Friday, did not say how long it would take for Rodri to recover from his latest injury setback.

The Spaniard sustained ACL damage in 2024 and endured an injury-disrupted campaign last season before leading Spain to their second World Cup title and earning the Golden Ball Award at the final on Sunday.

City’s new Italian head coach, who took charge of the former English Premier League champions after the departure of their legendary, multiple title-winning boss Pep Guardiola, said he wanted the former Ballon d’Or winner to stay at the club amid speculation about his future.

“Around a big player, there is always speculation, so I’m not worried about that,” Maresca said.

“I think it’s normal also because they won the World Cup. He was one of the best players and I think every manager wants to have Rodri because he’s a top player,” Maresca said. “But now [he has] surgery on, I think, Monday, and he needs a holiday. He needs to rest, he needs to recover, and then he will be back here with us.”

The 46-year-old, who was previously part of Guardiola’s coaching staff, said he felt like he was back home after spells at Leicester and Chelsea and embraced the challenge of following in the steps of one of the greatest managers of all time.

In an unprecedented period of success, Guardiola won 17 major trophies at City, including six Premier League titles and a first Champions League crown in 2023.

He has won 35 major titles across his coaching career, including at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“First of all, I want to say that it’s a privilege because the reason why the club decided to go for me, that means that for me it’s a privilege,” he said. “I said many times that I consider Pep probably the best coach in the world in the last 20–25 years, but again, it’s a challenge. It’s nice. It’s a privilege.”

Maresca is in his third stint at City, where he was academy coach in the 2020–21 season and then Guardiola’s assistant in 2022–23 — the year the team won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble.

“Probably the reason why the club decided for me is because they can see some similar concepts with the previous manager, and we always try to be aggressive on the ball, control the game, try to be the ones that impose our idea,” he said. “And try to do the most important thing in football, that is to win games at the end.” (Al jazeera)

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