Manchester City will be without star midfielder Rodri for the rest of the season following a serious injury sustained on Sunday.
The midfielder appears to have suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during Manchester City’s crucial Super Sunday clash with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
The injury to their best and most important midfielder leaves Manchester City in a bit of a bind in midfield. Fortunately for them, though, the January transfer window will provide them with the opportunity to fill the void left by Rodri.
Here are the four best options the club has in January.
Well, let’s get the most obvious option out of the way first. As evidenced by his performance coming off the bench to replace an injured Rodri in the Euro 2024 final, Martín Zubimendi is more than capable of filling the void left by his Spanish counterpart in midfield.
Zubimendi has the same rare skills that Rodri possesses, as he is equally adept both in and out of possession, regularly winning over 90% of his duels and completing over 90% of his passes for his current club, Real Sociedad.
While Liverpool failed to prise the midfielder away from his boyhood club over the summer, the chance to work with arguably the greatest manager of all time, Pep Guardiola, may be too good to turn down in January.
If Manchester City would rather look for a player closer to home who they can develop over the course of a few years to eventually permanently replace Rodri, then Adam Wharton could be their man.
Over the past eight months, the 20-year-old has burst onto the scene to become one of the most talked-about young midfielders in Europe, largely thanks to his ability to control the tempo of a game from the heart of midfield. In many ways, his style of play screams “Pep Guardiola.” And a bit of coaching from Guardiola would certainly take his game to the next level.
Another player who has previously been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool, Ederson has been tipped for a big-money move away from Atalanta over the past few seasons. And judging by his performances in Bergamo, it’s easy to see what all the fuss is about.
The 25-year-old has been the enforcer at the heart of Atalanta’s midfield since being snapped up from Salernitana in 2022, allowing his more creative teammates to go and weave their way through opponents without too much fear of leaving his own team high and dry defensively.
But that’s not Ederson’s only achievement. Perhaps unlike any other player on this list, he can also score with Rodri-like regularity, having scored just two fewer goals than the Spain international in all competitions in 2023/24.
England fans probably shuddered at the name ‘Morten Hjulmand’ after his Euro 2024 performance against the Three Lions.
The Danish star completely dominated England’s midfield during their group stage clash in Frankfurt, capping a wonderful performance with a long-range goal that earned his nation a 1-1 draw. At club level, at Sporting CP, Hjulmand has also been in pretty good form in recent years.
Perhaps above all the other traits he possesses, the most appealing from a Manchester City perspective is his leadership qualities. Having won the Sporting CP captain’s armband after just one season at the club, it’s clear that Hjulmand could step in and replace Rodri as a vocal leader at the heart of City’s midfield.
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