Rodri Faces Lengthy Lay-Off Due to Back Injury Threatening City Return
Rodri’s World Cup ended with a trophy in his hands and the Golden Ball around his neck. Within days, it may end with a surgeon’s knife.
The Manchester City midfielder, fresh from captaining Spain to a 1-0 win over Argentina in Sunday’s final in New Jersey, is now staring at an extended spell on the sidelines because of a back injury that could require surgery and is expected to rule him out of the start of the new season.
For a player who had just rediscovered his peak, the timing is brutal.
Golden Ball, looming operation
At 30, Rodri looked like the complete midfielder again in the United States, driving Spain through the tournament and collecting the award for best player. His passing, authority and calm under pressure returned to the levels that once made him the heartbeat of Pep Guardiola’s City.
But behind that resurgence sat a body that has been pushed to its limits for two years. The back problem, which has troubled him through the tournament, now threatens to undo the momentum of a summer in which he reminded the world of his class.
If surgery is required, City will begin the defence of their Premier League title without the man who has so often been their on‑field metronome.
Two years of pain
This is not an isolated setback. It is the latest chapter in a punishing run.
Rodri’s troubles began with a devastating rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament in a 2–2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in September 2024. That injury wiped out most of his season and forced City to reinvent their midfield on the fly.
He returned, only to be struck again. At the Club World Cup last July he suffered another injury, halting his attempt to build rhythm. Last season, hamstring and groin problems arrived in waves, restricting him to just 17 Premier League starts. For a player once considered close to indestructible, it was a jarring change.
The World Cup was supposed to be the turning point, the moment the old Rodri reappeared. Instead, it now looks like a high point wedged between long, difficult months.
Contract ticking, future unclear
The back issue lands at a delicate moment in his career.
Rodri’s contract at Manchester City runs out next June. Talks over his future carry extra weight now, with the club’s new manager Enzo Maresca keen to build around him but facing the reality of an ageing midfielder with a mounting injury record.
The Spaniard has never hidden his desire to return home at some stage, and he is understood to favour a move to Real Madrid if the opportunity arises. For now, though, Madrid have not made a concrete move. Interest is an idea, not yet an offer.
City, who have already undergone a seismic change with Guardiola’s departure and Maresca’s arrival, can ill afford to lose both their ideological reference point on the touchline and their tactical anchor on the pitch in quick succession. Yet the clock is ticking. Each week of uncertainty makes a free transfer next summer a more realistic scenario.
“When you go down, you can rise again”
Amid the celebrations in New Jersey, Rodri cut a more reflective figure than most champions.
“For me, it’s been a very tough time,” he admitted after lifting the World Cup. “I just want the new generations to see my example as an opportunity. When you go down, you can rise again. This is my philosophy for my entire life. Of course, sometimes things go well, things go wrong, but always the positiveness.”
Those words now read less like a victory speech and more like a mission statement for the months ahead.
Rodri has already climbed back from an ACL tear, from repeated muscle problems, from doubts over whether he could still dominate the biggest stages. Now he faces another climb, this time with his club future hanging in the balance and his body asking more questions.
Spain have just seen their captain drag them to the top of the world. Manchester City and Real Madrid are watching closely to see what comes next – and whether one of the defining midfielders of his generation can rise one more time.
