As if this summer hadn’t been transformational enough for Manchester City, now the club is entering the post-Rodri age. The 30-year-old completed a transfer to Barcelona this week, bringing to an end a glittering seven-year period at the Etihad Stadium during which he redefined the position at the base of the midfield.
Rodri won the Ballon d’Or as the best midfielder in the world. He was the fulcrum of a team that won everything there was to win under Pep Guardiola, controlling play and dictating games from deep. Now Manchester City will have to replace him, as well as Guardiola who departed at the end of last season.
Elliot Anderson was signed from Nottingham Forest for a club-record transfer fee of $154m. The 23-year-old was a starting figure for England at the 2026 World Cup and has already demonstrated his capacity for the elite level of the sport. Anderson will be even more important for City now that Rodri is gone.
In possession, Anderson can more than hold his own in the Premier League. He ranked highly for progressive passing last season and will now be Manchester City’s pace-setter at the base of the midfield. He is qualified for this job having performed it at international level over the summer.
Defensively, though, Anderson has a long way to go before matching the levels achieved by Rodri in recent seasons. Manchester City’s defence was wide open in Sunday’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and that could be a sign of things to come now that Rodri is playing for Barcelona in La Liga.
Ayyoub Bouaddi is reportedly close to sealing a move to the Etihad Stadium from Lille. The young Moroccan caught the eye at the World Cup and certainly has the potential to become one of the best deep-lying midfielders in the game. Bouaddi, however, is still very raw and has some developing to do.
Enzo Fernandez has been mentioned as a possible target. New Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca worked with the Argentine at Chelsea and is believed to be keen on a reunion with the player. Fernandez, however, is a much more attack-minded player than Rodri ever was for Rodri. He wouldn’t be a direct replacement.
It’s clear Manchester City is entering a new age and the departure of Rodri this summer only hits that home even more emphatically. Maresca must be allowed to impose his own ideas on this team and the Italian is under pressure to prove he has a vision for what City should look like in the future.