5 days ago
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Pep Guardiola has indicated that Manchester City might not see a fully fit Rodri until mid-September. It comes after the midfielder's issue last month.
The Spanish maestro picked up a groin injury during the FIFA Club World Cup clash with Al-Hilal in the last 16. The Ballon d'Or recipient, aged 29, has been largely working solo since the City squad reconvened post-summer break last week.
He's managed to participate in two comprehensive training sessions this week but is set to miss out on the trip to Palermo for a friendly, as well as the season opener against Wolves. While there's a chance he could play some part against Spurs and Brighton, the plan is to handle him with care until after the first international break of the season.
"Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al Hilal," Guardiola explained. "He has trained better in the last few days, hopefully after the international break is when he will be really fit.
"Hopefully in these games he can play some minutes but what is important is he doesn't have pain because we don't want this Rodri coming back injured."
"We try desperately to avoid that. He has been training the last two sessions with us and that's good."
Rodri joins a list of four players who are being kept back from travelling to avoid any fitness setbacks. England's Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol, and young talent Claudio Echeverri are all not at peak fitness and therefore haven't made the journey.
Both Foden and Gvardiol will be vying for a starting spot against Wolves at Molineux next Saturday, while Echeverri's future hangs in the balance due to loan interest and an overabundance of non-homegrown players for City to incorporate into their Champions League squad.
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