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A genius move? – 2 ways Pep Guardiola can extract the best out of Manchester City’s promising £62.8m signing

Manchester City opinion: What can Man City expect from Rodri

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Atletico Madrid’s central midfielder, Rodri.

City triggered the release clause of £62.8m and showed that they have no intention of stopping their dominance in the Premier League, at least not any time soon. 

The Cityzens will go down as one of the most dominant teams in Premier League history after racking up an unbelievable 198 points in two seasons under Pep Guardiola. After a slightly rocky start to his tenure at City, the visionary manager has made himself a household in the name Premier League as well. 

His possession-based system that relies on his teams winning the ball back quickly, playing around opponents with little triangles, has worked wonders for this City side.

There is a case to be made that this City side has underachieved in the last two season by not winning the Champions League as they played with great conviction over the past two seasons. 

However, there is no time for complacent with Liverpool hot on their trails and other top sides in the league hoping to put a dent and that’s where Rodri comes. 

Let’s see how Pep Guardiola might use him:

Single Pivot 

City have needed a long-term replacement for Fernandinho for a while now, with no natural replacement for the Brazilian.

Fernandinho has been one of the outstanding holding midfielders in the Premier League but he’s now on the wrong side of 30 and is someone who does depend on his ability to cover ground along with his positional sense. 

Rodri would be a natural replacement. He is touted as the successor to Busquets for the Spanish national team and will be learning that position from someone who played in that very same position in Guardiola.

His passing ability, press-resistance and physicality will make him a perfect replacement for Fernandinho. 

Fernandinho

Centre-back

Pep Guardiola doesn’t shy from using his holding midfielders as centre-backs as he did with Javier Mascherano at Barcelona and with Fernandinho this season at the Etihad in a game against Arsenal. 

One of the fundamental objectives of a Guardiola side is to be able to bring the ball out from the back in a Guardiola side and Rodri has all the skill sets for that, as mentioned above.

Vincent Kompany

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What might go unnoticed is that Rodri also stands at 6 feet and 3 inches, something that Fernandinho lacks and could occasionally see himself play in that position due to his aerial prowess.

All in all, he is capable of becoming a replacement for Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho.