Rodri Undergoes Back Surgery as Maresca Faces Early Challenges

Manchester City’s new season has barely drawn breath and already Enzo Maresca is dealing with the absence of his most trusted metronome.

Rodri has undergone back surgery and will be out for what the club describe as a “short period of rehabilitation”, a vague but telling phrase for a player who has carried an enormous load for both club and country.

Maresca revealed on Friday that the midfielder would go under the knife on Monday, stressing that the 28-year-old simply needed to stop.

“He needs a holiday, he needs to rest and recover and then he will be back with us,” the City manager said, underlining the physical and mental toll of a relentless schedule.

There is no fixed timeline for his return. No countdown, no ringed date on the calendar. Just a gap in the centre of City’s structure and a manager tasked with bridging it.

City confirmed that Rodri had been “feeling discomfort for some time” before the decision was made for surgery to “address the issue”. The wording hints at a problem that has lingered in the background, managed and masked while trophies were chased and medals collected.

Now it has caught up with him.

Key dates, big questions

The clock is already ticking in competitive terms. City face Arsenal in the Community Shield on 16 August, a traditional curtain-raiser that may now double as an early examination of how Maresca reshapes his midfield without its reference point.

A week later comes the Premier League opener against Bournemouth on 23 August. Whether Rodri plays any part in either remains uncertain.

His absence lands at a delicate moment in his career. He has just a year left on his contract and has been heavily linked with Real Madrid after leading Spain to World Cup glory this month, where he was named player of the tournament. His stock has never been higher, his body rarely under greater scrutiny.

The past two seasons have already been scarred by fitness problems. A torn anterior cruciate ligament wrecked most of City’s 2024-25 campaign for him, stripping the side of their organiser and safety net in front of the defence. Now, just as he seemed ready to reset, another issue forces him back to the treatment room.

For Maresca, who built his coaching reputation on control and structure, losing the one player who guarantees both is an early stress test of his tenure.

Gvardiol commits long term

While Rodri steps away to heal, City have moved to lock down another pillar of their future.

As reported by BBC Sport in June, Josko Gvardiol has signed a new five-year contract, tying the defender to the club until the summer of 2031. It is a statement deal for a player who has quickly become central to City’s plans.

The 24-year-old Croatia international has already made 122 appearances since arriving from RB Leipzig in August 2023, an extraordinary workload that underlines how swiftly he convinced successive managers of his reliability. In that time he has collected six trophies, including the Premier League title in his debut campaign.

Gvardiol’s extension offers stability at the back just as uncertainty creeps into the heart of midfield. One cornerstone steps away for a spell; another nails his colours to the mast for the long haul.

For City, and for Maresca, the equation is clear: keep the foundation intact, manage the absence of the man who knits it all together, and hope that when Rodri finally returns from this enforced pause, he does so refreshed rather than merely repaired.