Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has insisted the club will “try to find the new Rodri” following the midfielder’s departure to Barcelona this week.
Rodri joined La Liga champions Barcelona on a four-year contract after the Spanish giants agreed to pay a fee in the region of £65m for the midfielder.
The 30-year-old spent seven seasons at the Etihad Stadium, winning the 2024 Ballon d’Or, four Premier League titles, and scoring the only goal in the 2023 Champions League final.
Rodri also led Spain to World Cup glory during the summer, cementing his status as one of the finest midfielders of his generation before departing Manchester.
Maresca addressed the challenge of replacing such a key figure, asking: “How do we solve that problem? We try to find the new Rodri, it is what it is.”
The City boss also offered perspective on Rodri’s rise, noting: “[Before] Rodri arrived here, he didn’t win the Ballon d’Or, he didn’t win the Champions League, he didn’t win the Club World Cup.”
Maresca drew parallels with previous high-profile departures, referencing some of City’s most celebrated players to make his case for optimism.
“I was thinking on Thursday night, when David Silva was here, everyone was worried and Kevin [De Bruyne] arrived,” Maresca said, continuing his list of successful successions at the club.
“When Sergio [Aguero] was here, everyone was worried [when he was going to leave] and Erling [Haaland] arrived. Fernandinho? Rodri arrived,” he added confidently.
Maresca concluded: “When they leave, you need to be good in recruiting the next one. It is normal, it is change, it is not a problem, go again and try to do the right things.”
Rodri played nearly 300 games for City and was in the final 12 months of his contract, with extension talks ultimately failing to produce an agreement.
City have already moved quickly in the transfer market, signing England international midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a club record £115m fee.
The club remain in advanced talks to sign Lille’s Moroccan star Ayyoub Bouaddi and have not given up hope of signing Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, according to BBC Sport.
Interest in Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister has also been reported, suggesting City are targeting significant midfield reinforcements before the window closes.
On the outgoing side, Tottenham have agreed a £75m deal to sign Brazilian winger Savinho, with talks also ongoing regarding City teammate Omar Marmoush.
Maresca acknowledged the pressures of the window, saying: “There are 10 days to go, hopefully we can do the things that we need to do.”
He also addressed the difficulty of retaining players who want to leave, stating: “We don’t want to keep players here who don’t want to stay, for sure.”
