Manchester City experienced an almighty fall from grace last season, as Arne Slot’s Liverpool took over the reins of being the Premier League’s classiest side with ease.
Heading into the 2024/25 season, Pep Guardiola’s unstoppable force had collected four Premier League titles in a row, with many wondering if the Sky Blue domination of the English top-flight could ever be stopped.
Yet, come the end of the 38-game marathon, City sat – bruised and battered – with 71 points next to their name and nine defeats picked up, 13 points off the Reds at the summit of the tough division.
Even the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, who are both world-class operators in their own right, couldn’t spearhead a push up the punishing league, with that crash back to reality proving to be the revered Belgian’s final season at the club, after a FA Cup final loss to Crystal Palace only added more unbearable salt to the gaping wound.
Ultimately, losing Rodri for the entire campaign through injury was the sickener, with the Spanish enforcer experiencing a superhuman 2023/24 season for both club and country, which was then, unfortunately, met by injury heartbreak.
How Rodri became the best in the world at Man City
Rodri was a standout signing from the get-go, having cost a club-record fee in 2019 of £62.8m to bring to England from Atletico Madrid.
Swiftly, the Madrid-born midfielder would become the heartbeat of a frightening Citizens side gearing up for domestic domination, with only three top-flight games missed during his debut season as his new employers lost out on the title to the unstoppable train of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who amassed a mighty 99 points.
Rodri would only get better and better from this point onwards, though, as his personal trophy collection at the Etihad started to overflow.
The assured number 16 would collect 13 goal contributions just in the Premier League alone to guide his untouchable outfit to back-to-back Premier League titles, before becoming an untouchable world-beater during the memorable 2023/24 season for both Guardiola’s men and his nation.
The signs were there that Rodri was about to undergo a Ballon d’Or-winning journey, considering the close of the 2022/23 campaign saw the calm 29-year-old confidently stroke this effort home to finally bring an elusive Champions League back to the Sky Blue half of Manchester. Clearly, he had got a taste for being the man of the moment.
A stunning tally of eight goals and ten assists in league action from the reliable Spaniard the following campaign would clinch a mighty four Premier League titles in a row, leaving Guardiola to hail his dependable hero as “the best midfielder in the world” at that point in time, and it was an argument that was hard to knock down.
It would lead to Rodri picking up the illustrious Ballon d’Or accolade late last year, with the award all but sealed for the 29-year-old to collect when he was the glue that Luis De La Fuente’s Spain needed to lift the 2024 Euros, at the cruel expense of England in the final.
While only one goal contribution would come his way in the fast-paced tournament, Rodri was crucial in other ways as the battling, yet composed figure Spain needed in some crunch moments, with a 93% pass accuracy average, as per Sofascore, matched by a hunger to win 5.2 duels per pain-staking match-up.
Consistently playing at the peak of his powers very much took its toll on the much-loved number 16, though, with a cruciate ligament tear sustained last season by Rodri, obviously devastating news for those with connections to Guardiola and Co. and La Roja.
The road to recovery saw him miss a colossal 53 games for both club and country, as City’s elite club status took a battering, but Rodri looks to be slowly getting up to speed now, as City attempts to challenge Liverpool again for major honours.
Even with the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner now back available for selection, Guardiola actually has another Rodri-like player in his camp at the moment, who is also considered one of the world’s best in his own spot on the pitch.
Man City now have another Rodri-type player
Having experienced such a turbulent season last time out, City clearly felt like splashing significant wads of cash in the summer would suture up their problems effectively.
It has worked out somewhat, too, with new recruit Tijani Reijnders already being branded as “unbelievable” by Guardiola after powering home a confident strike on his Premier League debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Having cost a sizeable £46.5m to obtain in the summer, the first impression is that this is money well spent.
For around £16m cheaper, though, City have arguably won themselves the steal of the transfer window when landing Italian favourite Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the brand-new number 25 playing at the very top of his game for some time now, since making his AC Milan debut at just 16 years of age a decade ago.
His agent, when he was just a teenager, in Mino Raiola, even wildly claimed that Donnarumma could go on to become “the best goalkeeper in the world”, with his outlandish comments now looking like unbelievable hindsight when you scan over his very successful career, leading up to his big Etihad move.
Games played
428
Goals conceded
439
Clean sheets
180
Major accolades
12
Current Ballon d’Or ranking
9th
The 6-foot-5 beast has become well-known for being a serial trophy winner off the back of collecting 180 career clean sheets – much like Rodri at City – with 12 major accolades coming his way when being the number one stopper for both the Rossoneri and PSG.
In a similar fashion to Rodri, too, he has broken Three Lions hearts for his beloved Azzurri on the international stage, with Donnarumma the penalty shootout hero that saw Roberto Mancini’s Italy upset England at Wembley during the 2021 Euros final.
Also helping PSG to the Champions League glory last season via “elite” saves such as this one tallied up against Arsenal – with Mikel Merino labelling the Italian as such after the close contest at the Parc Des Princes – it’s clear that Guardiola bringing in the 78-time Italy international was done to try and kickstart another patch of success in Manchester, much like what Rodri offered up all those years ago when deserting La Liga.
With just four goals surrendered during his opening three clashes in England, it’s clear that Raiola’s crystal ball prediction wasn’t just wild praise for the sake of it, with Italy legend Alessandro Costacurta reinforcing this notion that he is an elite stopper when calling him “the best in the world” after that standout Gunners showing.
Guardiola will hope he can be a thorn in the side of the Gunners in the Premier League, as well, as Donnarumma attempts to pick up more domestic silverware – having conquered both Italy and France – with City, knowing he has an equally trophy-hungry teammate next to him in Rodri.