Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany would not be surprised to see Rodri return from injury at a "slightly better level" that what many will expect, even if there may be a few "bumps in the road" along the way.
The Citizens have been hampered with injuries during what has been a turbulent 2024-25 campaign and the one player who they have dearly missed is Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who has been sidelined since September last year with an ACL injury.
Just over five months on from sustaining his knee injury in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal, Rodri has now returned to individual training, with Man City releasing footage of their star Spaniard completing various different drills both with and without the ball last week.
Rodri was initially ruled out for the rest of the season, but Pep Guardiola has now refused to rule out the possibility of the 28-year-old featuring in some Premier League matches before the campaign comes to a close.
Guardiola has insisted that the club would not make "stupid decisions" in Rodri's recovery, but the fact that he has opened the door for his star lynchpin to potentially return at some stage in the final weeks and months of the season offers a huge boost to Man City supporters at a time when their side are battling for a top-four finish.
"So much is talked about these (long-term knee) injuries. It's about a year in recovery and about a year getting to yourself again. A lot of that is mental (recovery) and just trusting the injury, and that is absolutely true, but Rodri's cut from a different cloth," McInerney told Sports Mole. "Rodri is a born winner. Rodri will do everything with conviction.
'Rodri knows he's the best... football is a better place if he's available'
"That's not to say he won't have doubts because he will, he's only human, but I'd be very surprised if Rodri took as long to get over insecurities as most people, because he's a Ballon d'Or winner who fears absolutely nothing and knows he's the best.
"As much as it'll take a long time to get back to his best form, I don't think he'd be quite as cautious as some people, because I don't think he's as fearful. You can't do what he's done and have doubts about your progress. I think Rodri does everything with conviction and belief, and if he feels he's ready, he'll play as if he's ready.
"Rodri could tell me I was born in Brazil and I'd believe him! He's got that much conviction. Rodri's just so, so good at what he does. He has that sort of aura about him that, ultimately, I can only trust his decision making.
"It wouldn't surprise me at all if he recovers better from this injury than other people, because something about him is just different. He's the best player on the planet, in my humble opinion, and I think football is a better place if he's available."
McInerney has acknowledged that Guardiola and Man City will not look to rush Rodri back too soon and he has backed the Citizens to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League without their No.16 in midfield.
"Guardiola would love to have him back [but] I don't think City are going to rush him either. There's no need to," said McInerney. "Our expectations are different this season. I do believe we will get Champions League football next season, which is always the minimum requirement, and I think we'll get it reasonably comfortably in the end.
"I think the fixtures start to open up quite nicely for City and we've semi-survived this horrible run that we've had of tough fixtures, so I think we'll get there without Rodri anyway.
'Rodri at 80% is still the best midfielder in the league'
"I am very excited by [Rodri's eventual return] simply because I also feel like the Club World Cup could be made for him if he's available for that. [Rodri's availability] makes that competition so much more exciting, and it also prepares us for a potential Nico Gonzalez-Rodri double midfield there for the future - that is a powerful duo if it goes to plan.
"I'm not going to pretend he's going to be back anytime soon. I think he's a long way from kicking the ball on challenge. The intensity of the actual sprints and the physical challenges and people nudging you - it's vastly different to that video of him spraying a few passes around, jogging back and forth and turning gently, and I think he knows that.
"As exciting it is, I think there's going to be bumps in the road because you can't predict everything. There'll be days where he wakes up and goes, 'Oh a bit sore today, actually I might give it another two, three weeks just to make sure', and that's just natural. But if Rodri says he's going to be back soon and feels it, I believe him because he's Rodri."
Discussing whether Rodri will seamlessly slot back into his deep-lying midfield role once he makes a full recovery, or will need time to get back to his very best, McInerney said: "A very good version of Rodri is still better than most players.
"The best version of Rodri is the best player on the planet, and I think the Ballon d'Or backs that up, he's the most complete football in the world, I would argue, but even 80% of Rodri, he'd still be the best midfielder in the league or at least Champions League level.
Rodri's "mental conviction" separates him from the rest
"I think that version of Rodri, the sort of toned back version for a while, is still the guy who gets the ball from the defence, sprays passes around - probably isn't the guy dribbling past people and scoring goals from 20 yards, that will come in time - but the smart Rodri who can be in the right position, head a few balls away and spray a few passes, I suspect that'll be back pretty quickly.
"I don't think Rodri doubts himself and I think a lot of it is mental conviction. I think Rodri will come back at a slightly better level than people realise. I truly believe a lot of what makes him so brilliant is who he is as a person. I think that's what separates the very good footballers from the truly great footballers. There's a conviction to who they are and what they do.
"Some people would argue [Virgil] van Dijk is as good as he's ever been. It took a little bit of time, admittedly (after an injury), but centre-back is a different role as well, it's a very different role to centre midfield.
"Centre-midfield is one of the hardest (positions to play in), it's the ground you have to cover, but to do what Rodri does, I think he's going to be very capable of doing the seven or eight out of 10 things that he does really well almost instinctively, because I think a lot of that's in his head.
"I think we'll get a very good Rodri back pretty soon. I don't think the first version of Rodri when he recovers will be at his best, but it'll still be better than what we've seen all season for most of Man City's midfield and I can't wait for that. It's an exciting time!"
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