Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has warned it could take most of the season for Rodri to get back to his best as he backed understudy Nico Gonzalez to keep improving. Rodri won the Ballon d’Or in 2024 (Martin Rickett/PA)“Rodri has been and is an outstanding player,” Guardiola said. But I said to Rodri, and maybe he struggled to understand: it’s not about six months or seven months (after the injury). In the World Cup it will be the best Rodri and next season will be the best Rodri. There are many things that step by step he is going to take, because he is open-minded and incredibly coachable.