Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Rodri won’t be completely fit until after the September international break following a groin injury suffered at the Club World Cup.
During the last 16 loss to Al Hilal, the Manchester City midfielder detected the issue. The Ballon d’Or champion was struck hard after he had just come back from a severe knee injury that had sidelined him for most of last season.
Although not going with the team for Saturday’s friendly versus Palermo, Rodri has started training again at the City Football Academy. Also staying behind will be Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol, and Claudio Echeverri.
“Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al Hilal,” the gaffer revealed to the reporters. “He has trained better in the last few days, hopefully after the international break is when he will be really fit.”
The Cityzens head coach added: “Hopefully, in these early games, he can play some minutes but what is important he doesn’t have pain because we don’t want Rodri coming back injured. We try desperately to avoid that. He is not ready for 90 minutes.”
Before the break, City begin their Premier League season against Wolves before matches with Tottenham and Brighton. Without danger of a setback, Guardiola will be counting on Rodri to contribute in those games.
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