Rodri: I feel strong and so happy to be back playing for City | OneFootball

Rodri says he is happy and excited to be back doing what he does best and part of City’s Club World Cup squad after recovering from eight months out injured last season.

The Spanish holding midfielder suffered the devastating blow of sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury during our 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Etihad last September.

The injury came on the back of the finest sustained spell of Rodri's career, a run of form that would see him crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner in October.

His impact and influence were hugely missed by City with the Blues having to settle for a third-placed finish in the Premier League after having won an historic four titles in a row in the preceding four campaigns.

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After a lengthy and carefully managed spell of recovery and rehabilitation, Rodri made a long-awaited cameo comeback appearance in City’s penultimate Premier League game of the 2024/25 season at home to Bournemouth.

The 29-year-old has subsequently followed that up with two more encouraging appearances from the bench in our opening two Group G games of the Club World Cup, against Wydad AC and Al Ain respectively.

Pep Guardiola warned last weekend that Rodri’s return after such a long period out would need to be carefully managed.

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But for his part, Rodri couldn’t disguise his delight at being back where he belonged.

And he said he felt being part of City’s quest to lift the Club World Cup would help act as the perfect platform to continue to build up his match fitness

“Well, I feel very good, and very happy to be here,” the Spaniard declared.

“An amazing tournament to start again to play football and really excited to join the team again, joining in the pitch. That’s the most important thing.

“And be excited to work with them and win - that's the aim today.

“This [the Club World Cup] is a massive opportunity for me to come back.

“I feel very, very strong to be honest.

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“You know, the process [of recovery] was long, but I was taking my time and said that the most important thing was to keep focus and don’t be sad or whatever.

“I knew one day I'll come back and yeah, this day has finally come.

“I'm very excited to play again.

“And though it's going to still be months until I reach my level, I am so happy.”

It’s a new look City squad that Rodri has returned to with eight signings having bolstered the club’s ranks since January of this year.

In addition, Pep Guardiola has also brough in a number of new faces to his coaching team as well

For Rodri the opportunity to compete in the Club World Cup is the ideal showcase for the City squad to both develop and gel while laying down a template for the new season.

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“Well, I think Pep’s like us. You know, we're trying to find out the best way [forward]. Try to fix the new signings. See what the best way is for playing,” Rodri added.

“And I think this tournament is an incredible opportunity to compete but also show what we're going to show next season.

“So I think for this [the Club World Cup] is great and as soon as we all get together and know each I think we'll be better as a team.”