Manchester City midfielder Rodri will reportedly miss the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in Sunday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
The 28-year-old - a Euro 2024 winner with Spain over the summer - experienced a disrupted start to the new season and was named in Pep Guardiola's starting lineup for just the second time for the clash with Arsenal.
Rodri was immediately in the wars as he went down holding his face after just a few seconds, immediately from kickoff, after a heavy collision with Kai Havertz.
City's No.16 eventually sprung back up to his feet, but he went down again on the 16-minute mark following an innocuous coming-together with Thomas Partey at a corner.
Rodri appeared to jar his knee as he ran alongside Partey towards the near post before hitting the deck, and after a lengthy spell of treatment hobbled off the pitch with the support of two Man City medics.
Guardiola was unable to provide a significant update on Rodri's issue at his post-match press conference, but the Catalan coach did admit that the midfielder had to leave the pitch because "he felt something".
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Rodri 'ruled out for rest of season with ACL injury'
According to multiple reports, including one from ESPN, Rodri has since undergone tests on Monday morning and they have revealed that the midfielder has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee.
Rodri is therefore set to miss the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign and is likely to undergo surgery in Barcelona.
The news comes as a catastrophic blow for Man City, as Rodri has been a hugely influential player since joining the club in 2019, winning a total of 11 trophies including four successive Premier League titles.
Man City have won 74% of the 260 matches in which Rodri has played in, and the midfielder has been labelled by Guardiola as "the best holding midfielder in the world" as well as 'a potential Ballon d'Or winner' at next month's ceremony.
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Who could replace Rodri at Man City?
The absence of Rodri could potentially force Man City to enter the January transfer window, with Newcastle United star Bruno Guimaraes known to be admired by the Citizens' hierarchy.
In the short term, the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Bernardo Silva, Matheus Nunes and Kevin De Bruyne are all options who could be tasked with filling the huge void left behind by Rodri.
De Bruyne, however, is currently nursing his own injury issue; the 33-year-old missed the draw with Arsenal with an apparent groin problem although Guardiola has revealed that he does not expect the Belgian to be out for too long.
Man City are now preparing for an EFL Cup third-round tie against Championship side Watford on Tuesday, in which Guardiola is expected to make wholesale changes, before they turn their attention to Saturday lunchtime's Premier League trip to Newcastle.
Oliver Thomas
