The Premier League season 2025/26 will be interesting for all sorts of reasons.
Arsenal has considerably strengthened the summer to bring them closer to their longing English top-flight title since the 2003/04 Invincibles season.
Third place not enough for Man City
Reigning champions Liverpool have been active in the same way because they want to earn themselves back-to-back titles and the most successful club in the country is won in terms of competition titles (they are currently 20 with Manchester United).
Recent serial winners, Manchester City, had a terrible season in 2024/25, even if many clubs were satisfied with third place.
In view of the fact that the side of Pep Guardiola had won six of the previous seven Premier League titles, the bronze medal position would never be enough, especially because they were also short of any other competition, beaten by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final and by Al Hilal in the World Cup was their last chance of silverwork.
Far too many players were among the par and for long periods of the campaign. However, injuries for important players must also be taken into account.
Haaland and Rodri were missed
Erling Haaland, for example, was put off the offside for 42 days of the campaign and therefore missed eight games, but by far the biggest problem of Pep was the injury to Ballon d'Or winning midfielder, Rodri.
His cruciate ligament crack at the start of last season held him 47 games and 236 days outside.
Although a player clearly does not make a team, the Spaniard was the beating heart of Pep's City side, in almost the same way Sergio Busquets was when Guardiola was in Barcelona.
His specific set of skills has proven to be unparalleled, so the citys would always struggle to a certain extent in his absence.
Given that he did not return until the season, it could not be determined with any accuracy if he had returned as well as new.
Rodri's incredible statistics in 2023/24
Here was a player who scored eight goals in 2023/24 and offered nine assists, even though it was a defensive midfielder. Only Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden improved that old man during the campaign.
Kevin De Bruyne was the only other city regular who did not lose a match that he played in that season, but Rodri played in more than double the number of games thanks to the injuries of the Belgian injury, which is a remarkable achievement if you think about it.
Where the Spaniard really excelled was with regard to his death.
Rodri's Premier League statistics in 2023/24Opta perform by statistics
He was the only player in the team who made more than 3,000 passes (3,721), of which 3440 were accurate. That was at least 1000 more passes tried than anyone else, and an elite level -nouge of 92.5% makes it quite the striking statistics.
In short, the way the city played was dictated by Rodri. He was so important.
The team of course succeeded in his absence, but was not even close to the machine they would be present without the conductor of their orchestra.
Real Madrid Cirking Round
Prior to the new season, when everyone should become enthusiastic about what is to come, Man City looks over their shoulders while Real Madrid has come into the picture.
According to several reports, Xabi Alonso Rodri wants to return to the Spanish capital (the midfielder was born there and has a past of Atletico Madrid) and Los Blancos are apparently prepared to offer £ 100 million in the region of the 29-year-old.
Rodri's Premier League Pass Map 2023/24Opta perform by statistics
What makes it an interesting proposition is that Guardiola has always said famous in the past that he will never be on a player if they want to leave the club. He can make an attempt to convince them to stay, but seems to accept their final decision.
Important players such as Cole Palmer who leaves for Chelsea are proof of that attitude, but the claim that one could have is that Palmer has not necessarily been determined, while Rodri is clearly the completed article and one of the most important players in the team.
Nowadays does Man City watch younger players?
It is certainly worth considering Rodri's age if an offer becomes official, and the issue whether the midfielder will come back as well as he was before the injury.
What is also noticeable is that of the five most important signing sessions that City has already done this summer, none of them are older than Tijjani Reijnders at the age of 26.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (24), Rayan Cherki (21), James Trafford (22) and Sverre Nypan (18) are considerably younger.
Although it is also in a healthy financial position, £ 100 million is still much for the city to reject a player who will be 30 in the course of the coming season.
If they do not accept it, a new deal will almost certainly be placed on the table, and that will simply show the high esteem that the club will hold on Rodri.
#Jason Pettigrove