Rodri's Future at Manchester City: Key Midfield Options for Maresca

Enzo Maresca has barely had time to put his own nameplate on the manager’s office at Manchester City, but the job is already threatening to turn ruthless.

Six weeks in, he may be about to lose the heartbeat of the side.

Rodri, World Cup-winning captain, Ballon d’Or winner, treble anchor, is into the final year of his contract. Barcelona have already tested City’s resolve with a £38.5m bid, Real Madrid are circling, and the midfielder’s stock has rarely been higher after leading Spain to World Cup glory in the summer.

Seven seasons in Manchester have turned him into the reference point of City’s modern era. When he tore his anterior cruciate ligament after the Euros, City briefly discovered what life without him might look like. It wasn’t pretty. He fought his way back, flickered into form late last season, then exploded again on the international stage.

Now Maresca, still arranging the furniture, may have to rip out the foundations.

If Rodri goes, the hole is enormous. Bernardo Silva has already departed, leadership is thinning out, and the new manager must find not just a replacement, but a new axis.

Three names sit at the front of the queue.

Azzedine Bouaddi – the teenage conductor

• Age: 18
• Country: Morocco
• Club: Lille

The Bouaddi noise has been constant all summer. City have held talks with the Lille midfielder, who would cost around £85m, and the Moroccan is understood to be keen on the move.

He doesn’t arrive as a prospect in the shadows. Bouaddi lit up Lille’s Champions League win over Real Madrid in 2024, then backed it up with an eye-catching World Cup campaign this summer. Those performances shoved him straight onto the elite radar.

On the pitch, the profile is obvious. Bouaddi plays as a deep-lying controller, dictating tempo from the base of midfield in a way that mirrors Rodri’s role. He would sit behind Elliot Anderson – the £116m summer signing who prefers to surge box-to-box – and give Maresca a familiar structure to build around.

The numbers hint at maturity. Thirty Ligue 1 appearances last season for an 18-year-old in a physically demanding league is no small feat. With Bernardo Silva gone and Rodri potentially following, City are not just shopping for talent; they are scrambling to rebuild an entire midfield hierarchy.

Bouaddi offers control, calm, and a long-term solution. What he cannot offer yet is the guarantee that he can carry a title-chasing midfield from day one.

Enzo Fernandez – Maresca’s trusted lieutenant

• Age: 25
• Country: Argentina
• Club: Chelsea

If Bouaddi is the future, Enzo Fernandez is the ready-made option. And crucially, he is the one Maresca already knows inside out.

At Chelsea, Maresca leaned heavily on the Argentine. No player made more Premier League appearances under him. When Reece James was unavailable, it was Fernandez who wore the armband. That decision said plenty. Maresca doesn’t just see a passer; he sees a leader.

Chelsea, though, know exactly what they have. Their valuation stands at £120m, and they are prepared to stand firm, even with City already dropping £116m on Anderson. For a club trying to reset their own project, losing their midfield fulcrum is not part of the plan.

On the pitch, Fernandez offers something slightly different to Rodri. He can dictate from deep but thrives when stepping higher, attacking space, and breaking into the box. His numbers last season underline that dual threat: 15 goals and seven assists in 54 appearances for Chelsea, while also topping this shortlist for successful passes, passes into the box, and completed balls into the final third.

His summer ended in drama. Fernandez helped drive Argentina to the World Cup final, only to be sent off as they lost to Spain. He returned to Chelsea training this week, but the uncertainty around his future has forced the club’s hand.

They have set a clear deadline: any offers must land by 17:00 BST on Friday. After that, they intend to fully reintegrate him and continue to treat him as a key figure.

If City move, they will have to move decisively – and expensively.

Alex Scott – the Premier League climber

• Age: 22
• Country: England
• Club: Bournemouth

Then there is the Premier League option already proving himself on English soil.

City have explored a deal for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, an England international whose trajectory has caught the eye of several top-flight clubs. The 22-year-old has turned down new contract offers from the Cherries, yet his current deal runs until 2028 and the club are adamant they want to keep him.

They have backed that stance with action. Bournemouth rejected a £64m bid from Chelsea last month and made it clear they did not welcome further approaches. Arsenal have tried and failed as well.

Scott’s appeal to Maresca is easy to see. His game is built on energy and progression. He carries the ball through lines, drives into space, and fits a possession-heavy approach with his willingness to take responsibility in tight areas. Add his passing into the box and knack for winning duels, and you have a midfielder who can both build and break.

He is not a like-for-like Rodri, but he is a player who could thrive in the structure City already have – and grow with it.

Rodri’s future now hangs over all of this. If he stays, City can afford to be patient, to think in terms of succession rather than surgery. If he goes, Maresca’s first major act will be to choose his new midfield cornerstone.

A teenage prodigy from Lille, a trusted lieutenant at Chelsea, or a rising English star on the south coast.

One way or another, the next move will define the shape of Manchester City’s midfield for years.