Replacing Rodri: Enzo Maresca's Challenge at Manchester City
Enzo Maresca knows exactly what he’s just lost. And he isn’t pretending otherwise.
Rodri, the metronome and muscle of Manchester City’s midfield, has gone. After seven years, four Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups and a stack of defining performances, the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner is a Barcelona player.
City open their Premier League campaign against Bournemouth on Sunday with a Rodri‑shaped hole in the middle of the pitch. Maresca’s response? No nostalgia. No panic. Just a blunt challenge.
“I’ll try to find a new Rodri – it is what it is,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Replacing the irreplaceable
Maresca didn’t downplay the scale of the task. Rodri is arriving at Barcelona as the best midfielder in the world, fresh from captaining Spain to World Cup glory last month and being named player of the tournament, on top of winning the European Championship earlier in the summer.
Yet the City manager leaned on recent history. This club has walked this tightrope before.
“When David Silva was here, everyone was worried – Kevin (De Bruyne) arrived. When Sergio Aguero was here, everyone was worried – Erling (Haaland) arrived. When Fernandinho left, Rodri arrived. It's just about this,” he said.
The message was clear: City don’t replace legends like-for-like. They build the next one.
Rodri himself is Maresca’s favourite example. “Rodri, before he arrived here, he didn't win the Ballon d'Or, he didn't win the Champions League, he didn't win the Club World Cup. Then he joined the club and then he achieved many important things. Now the target for us is to try to find the new Rodri.”
The pressure, then, shifts from the pitch to the recruitment department.
A squad in motion
Rodri’s exit is the headline, but it’s not the only change. This is a City side being reshaped, piece by piece, in a summer of quiet upheaval.
Maresca expects more movement before the transfer window shuts. Names like Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez have been linked with departures, yet the Italian refused to sound alarmed.
“We need to adapt and we don't want to keep players here that don't want to stay,” he said. “The normal thing in transfer windows is that you have to wait because all the clubs try to keep players until the last week and then sell for more money. It's normal. I'm not worried about that.”
City have lived in this late-window chaos for years and usually come out stronger. Maresca is banking on that pattern holding.
“When the transfer window closes and we have all the squad there, for sure it will be different,” he added.
Different is guaranteed. The question is whether, somewhere in that rebuilt midfield, City really can unearth the next Rodri – and how quickly they can turn him into the standard the last one set.
