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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes Nico Gonzalez is continuing to improve.
Patience could be the defining word of Manchester City's midfield this season.
Patience with Rodri as he finds his feet again after a serious knee injury wiped out the best part of nine months, and patience with Nico Gonzalez as he adapts to life in blue and tries to fill Rodri's considerable shoes.
Gonzalez arrived in January for £50million and he gradually featured less and less as City struggled for form. He's made eight appearances this campaign and has been entrusted with the pivotal midfield role with Mateo Kovacic having been out injured.
And while the jury might be out on Gonzalez's long-term viability as a defensive midfielder, the 23-year-old is impressing Pep Guardiola with the City boss at pains to point out the positives in the former Porto man's play on the eve of the Premier League trip to Brentford.
"In the 30 minutes that Nico Gonzalez played (against Monaco), he was the player who recovered more ball in the transition," said Guardiola of the man who conceded a controversial last minute penalty when his boot connected with Eric Dier's head in the box.
Guardiola spoke to Gonzalez on the pitch at length after the Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield last month, one of several conversations with the Spaniard during that contest.
It's clear the City chief is desperate for Gonzalez to improve and grasp the message being passed on. And Guardiola is confident he will.
"He is so young. It's not like we have had seven or eight years together," he said. "He has had not even one year with us together in a tough period and there are many things that in a step by step, he is going to take it, because he is open-minded. He's incredibly coachable, not all of the players are. He will get it.
"Even Rodri when he started in his first season, he struggled, it is normal. But Nico is Nico. He has to be Nico."
He may well be being Nico on the bench at Brentford with Rodri in line to start and Kovacic pushing for his first involvement of the campaign after two matches among the subs.
All three are likely to get game time with City challenging on four fronts and Rodri unable to play three games a week.
The Spaniard must manage his body and City must find a way of ensuring he is fit and available for the season-defining games, but not at the expense of match rhythm. It's a delicate, and perhaps impossible, balance and one that makes Gonzalez even more important.
Guardiola knows the January arrival is not the finished article but there is a clear desire from both player and manager to develop the 23-year-old into an elite performer capable of managing matches in Rodri's absence. The 2024 Ballon d'Or winner at his best is simply the best, but Guardiola accepts those levels may still be a few months off.
"Rodri will be ready for the World Cup and next year we will get the best Rodri," said Guardiola this week.
For now he will hope that the best of Nico Gonzalez can fill any Rodri void.
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