Rodri Set for Back Surgery as Manchester City Begins New Era

Enzo Maresca’s first significant act as Manchester City manager will be to plan without the man who so often makes them tick.

Fresh from lifting the World Cup with Spain and collecting the Golden Ball as the tournament’s outstanding player, Rodri now heads for the operating table. The 30-year-old will undergo surgery on a back problem on Monday, Maresca confirmed at his unveiling.

It is a jarring contrast. One week, Rodri stands on top of the world, the conductor of Spain’s triumph. The next, he is back in the treatment room that has framed too much of his club career over the past two seasons.

The midfielder’s recent years at City have been stop-start and bruising. An anterior cruciate ligament injury wrecked his 2024-25 campaign, keeping him out for the majority of the season. Attempts to build rhythm last term were repeatedly interrupted by setbacks, with Rodri often unavailable just when City needed his control most.

At the World Cup, that all felt like distant history. He dominated midfields again, dictated tempo, and reminded everyone why he is regarded as one of the most complete midfielders in the game. City’s new manager, though, must now face the reality of another spell without his on-field anchor.

“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,” Maresca said, outlining a simple but significant plan: fix the problem, then rebuild.

He did not offer a timeline for Rodri’s return. No bold promises, no rushed estimates. Just the clear message that recovery comes first.

What Maresca did move quickly to shut down was any suggestion that Rodri’s long-term future lies away from the Etihad Stadium. Reports in the past week have linked the Ballon d'Or winner with Real Madrid, a predictable swirl of speculation around a player at the peak of his powers.

“Around big players there are always speculations so I am not worried about that,” Maresca said. “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.”

The message was firm. City’s new boss plans with Rodri at the heart of his project, not as a name on a departures list.

For now, though, the Italian must design his first months in charge without the player who so often gives City their balance, their calm, their structure. A new manager, a new system, and a familiar question for a club that has built so much around one man: how do you replace Rodri, even temporarily, when the season’s first tests arrive?