I suffered the exact same injury as Rodri - Man City must do one key thing for him

Newcastle hero Alan Shearer has sent Rodri a heartfelt message after the Manchester City talisman's season was cut short just five matches in. It comes after Pep Guardiola confirmed his pivotal midfielder wouldn't feature again over the course of the 2024/2025 campaign.

"Next season he will be here," Guardiola said before the Newcastle draw. "This season is over. It is what it is at that level. We are here to support him. Good recovery, step-by-step and we move forward.

After playing over 250 matches for City across five seasons - not to mention 50 more for Spain - Rodri is set for a prolonged spell on the treatment table. Even after a carefully-managed return to club football this summer, which involved winning Euro 2024, he only made a full return last weekend.

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That appearance vs Arsenal lasted just over 20 minutes, though, with an unfortunate collision with Thomas Partey resulting in Rodri damaging his knee ligaments. "What he gives us we don't have a similar player, but all the players together can replace what Rodri has or has given us since arriving to us," Guardiola continued.

"We have to find a way to play a lot of months without an important player for us, everybody knows it. We want a speedy recovery for next season."

Shearer has, meanwhile, shared his sympathy after tackling a similar injury during his own playing days. "I've been there myself in terms of an ACL injury and I was out for six or seven months, so I know exactly how Rodri will feel and how the football club will feel," the Premier League great told Betfair.

Shearer added: "It's a long road back. It's horrible, it really is. It's devastating because what you love doing most is going into training and having the craic with the lads, then obviously playing football, and that's been taken away from you for however long.

"Whether it's five months, six months, seven months - or whatever it may be - it's a long road back. You've got the operation, if Rodri is going to have that, then you're in a rest period and then you're in rehab period. It's a long road back and you have to be really strong mentally to get over it."

City had planned for an even longer charge than usual for Rodri. They will be playing at the revamped Club World Cup next summer, a competition which would have made it nearly two years of straight football for Rodri.

Now, though, Guardiola and his backroom staff be working without one star man and know just how closely they must manage his eventual return and recovery.

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