Rodri is doing the thing again. The thing where he stands in midfield and makes everyone around him better. The thing where he controls games without needing to sprint everywhere or blast shots from 30 yards. And for Manchester City fans who spent last season watching him limp through recovery, this World Cup has been a quiet reassurance that their midfield still belongs to him.
Spain heads into a semifinal against France on Thursday, and Rodri is a big reason they’re still alive. Not the flashy reason. Haaland and Mbappe and Bellingham have grabbed the headlines, as they tend to do. But Rodri has been the guy holding it together underneath all that noise. His passing has been surgical. His reading of the game is still absurd. And for the first time in over a year, he looks fully healthy.
That matters more than you might think.
Last season was a grind for the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner. Coming back from a serious knee injury meant his rhythm was off, his minutes were managed, and he never quite felt like himself. City still won games, obviously. But the machine didn’t hum the same way. When Rodri is out there at full strength, the whole team plays with a different kind of confidence. When he’s not, you can feel the gap.
And now he’s entering the final 12 months of his contract with City. That adds a layer of intrigue to everything. The club hasn’t confirmed anything about an extension yet, but you don’t let a midfielder like this walk for free. Not when he’s still the most dominant midfielder in the world at his best. Not when Enzo Maresca is building something that clearly needs Rodri at the center of it.
What’s interesting is how Rodri has adapted his game at this tournament. He’s not just sitting deep and spraying passes anymore. He’s pressing higher. He’s stepping into attacks. Spain basically funnels everything through him, and it works because he never forces the issue. Every pass has a purpose. Every positioning shift seems calculated. It’s the kind of subtle dominance that doesn’t make SportsCenter but wins you World Cup semifinals.
There’s also the partnership on the horizon that has City fans buzzing. Elliot Anderson will likely slide into midfield alongside Rodri next season, and the potential there is ridiculous. Anderson brings energy and directness. Rodri brings control and vision. Combined, it could give Maresca exactly what he needs to unlock another level of this team. But that only works if Rodri stays healthy and stays in form.
The signs are good so far. He’s played every minute of Spain’s knockout matches. He’s not favoring the knee. He’s covering ground like the old Rodri. If this carries into next season, City could be looking at something special. If it doesn’t, well, they’re already thinking about what comes next.
But for now, Rodri is reminding everyone what they were afraid they’d lost. And that’s a pretty good problem to have.
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