Rodri to Undergo Back Surgery as New City Era Begins

Enzo Maresca’s first significant act as Manchester City manager will be to do without his most important midfielder.

Fresh from lifting the World Cup and the Golden Ball with Spain, Rodri is heading for the operating table. The 30-year-old will undergo surgery on a back problem on Monday, Maresca confirmed at his opening news conference as City boss.

It is a jarring contrast. One week, Rodri is at the summit of the international game, driving Spain to the biggest prize of all and being named the tournament’s outstanding player. The next, he is facing another spell of rehabilitation.

The back issue comes at the end of two punishing, fragmented seasons at club level. Rodri’s 2024-25 campaign was wrecked by an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for the majority of the year. When he did return, a series of setbacks meant he never truly settled into rhythm for City, often watching from the stands when they needed him most.

At the World Cup, he looked reborn. The authority in possession, the calm under pressure, the sense that the game bends to his tempo – all of it was back. That made Maresca’s update feel even more stark.

“Now, [he has] surgery on Monday. Then he needs a holiday, he needs to rest and recover and then he will be back with us,” the Italian said, outlining a simple but significant plan: fix the problem, step away, reset.

Maresca stopped short of putting any timeline on Rodri’s return. No promises, no dates. Just the clear message that City will wait for their midfield cornerstone to heal properly.

If the injury bulletin raised eyebrows, the new manager moved quickly to shut down a different kind of noise. Reports in the past week have linked Rodri with a move to Real Madrid, speculation that always circles the game’s elite.

“Around big players there are always speculations so I am not worried about that,” Maresca said, brushing off the rumours with the certainty of a coach who knows exactly what he has.

“I think it is normal, also because they [Spain] won the World Cup and because he is one of the best players. I think every manager wants to have Rodri because he is a top player.”

For City, the message is clear. Their Ballon d'Or-winning, World Cup-winning, Golden Ball midfielder is not a transfer story. He is a long-term pillar of Maresca’s project – one who now faces another battle with his body before he can dictate games again.

The surgery comes first. Then the holiday. Then the slow climb back to the level that made him the most coveted holding midfielder in the world.

When he finally steps out in sky blue again, the question will not be whether he is wanted elsewhere. It will be whether anyone can stop him returning to the standard that just conquered the world.