Guardiola on the Man City star that makes him ‘so happy’ | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola could not hide his excitement when asked about the return of a fully fit Rodri this season.

Rodri was sidelined with injury for almost the entirety of last season after rupturing his ACL against Arsenal in September. But on the dawn of the new Premier League season, his boss has revealed: “He’s so close to coming back.”

The Ballon D’Or winner did feature for City at the FIFA Club World Cup this summer. However, he limped off the pitch after appearing to reaggravate an issue in his right knee. “This is a bad difficult injury,” Guardiola explained. “So statistics say that the year afterwards, you always have some muscular problems.

“We try desperately to avoid it but it’s difficult. To know exactly how many minutes, how many games and the other ones. And of course, he’s desperate to play.”

City dearly missed Rodri, as they endured a disappointing campaign in his absence. Guardiola continued: “We need his ambition, his personality, his quality. He was nominated last season as the best player in the world. So that is why it’s really important to have him back.

“For me seeing him in the training sessions and in the locker rooms makes me smile, it makes me so happy and he’s so close as long as he doesn’t take a step back, he’s so close to coming back.

“But he has to come back for a few minutes and after more minutes and take one day rest and then come back for a few minutes and rest. That is what is most difficult, to know exactly what is the best for him.”

The Catalan continued: “Today all the clubs monitor really well the players.

“But also there is the desire of the players that maybe feel ‘I’m good, I’m ready’ and maybe they’re not because they’ve been out for one year.

“His life and his passion and his love is to play football.”