Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City broke yet another record when they humbled Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final establishing themselves as the first men’s team to achieve the domestic treble in England.
With City’s 2018/19 season reaching its conclusion, the preparations to solidify the squad for next season has already begun. The Sky Blues are already on the lookout for a replacement for Fernandinho who turned 34 earlier in the month.
While many names (Tanguy Ndombele, Saul Nigez etc.) have surfaced, the one which has stuck by far the most is Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez who is heavily linked with a move to the Etihad. Let’s take a look at how the Spanish midfielder will fit in City’s starting XI and what he might add to the relentless Manchester giants.
Formation
Rodri seems like the perfect successor to Fernandinho, who has played a vital role in Guardiola’s success at City. The Spaniard is a like for like replacement for the Brazilian, who despite his quality and consistency, cannot be expected to play all throughout the campaign at the same level of intensity anymore.
The 34-year-old is the lynchpin in City’s system and anyone who follows him in the role will have some big boots to fill which makes replacing him with the right personnel even more significant. His tactical awareness, ball-winning ability, dynamic running and reading of the game are some of the many things which won’t come easy with the new signing.
Although Rodri is a midfielder in Guardiola’s preferred mould, living up to the expectations of his predecessors like Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso and Fernandinho is no menial task. However, the Spaniard was praised heavily in his younger days drawing direct comparisons to one of the best defensive midfielder in the world in Busquets and is hailed as his successor in the Spanish national team.
Rodri, along with his vision, passing ability and ease in possession is a complete defensive midfielder. The 22-year-old has averaged more tackles than anyone in his current team and his defensive positioning is second to none.
The midfielder’s style of play syncs more with the Catalan than it does with Diego Simeone- despite that he has developed into a fine player in under nine months at Wanda Metropolitano. There is an expectation that under Pep, he can hone his skills even more and with added know-how, transform into one of the best in his position in the world.
Stats Courtesy: Whoscored, Transfermarkt
