Manchester City’s search for a long-term successor to Rodri is on, and manager Enzo Maresca has made no attempt to disguise the scale of the task. With the Spain international completing a move to Barcelona, City are working against the clock to reshape a midfield built around him for the best part of five seasons.
Maresca addressed the situation directly, framing the club’s objective in the simplest possible terms. “Now the target for us is to try to find the new Rodri,” he said. “How do we solve the problem? Try to find the new Rodri.”
A void built on trophies
The scale of what City are trying to replace is not lost on Maresca. He pointed out that Rodri’s standing at the club was earned rather than inherited, noting that the midfielder’s major honours — including his Ballon d’Or — arrived only after he had settled at the Etihad. “Before he arrived, he didn’t win the Ballon d’Or, he didn’t win the Champions League, he didn’t win the Club World Cup,” Maresca said. “He joined the club then he achieved many important things.”
The implication is clear enough: City are not necessarily hunting for a finished article, but for a player capable of growing into the role the way Rodri once did.
Sticking to the City model
Maresca’s approach to Rodri’s exit follows the pattern set under Pep Guardiola — if a player wants a fresh challenge elsewhere, City let them go rather than fight to keep an unhappy squad member. Rodri had made clear his wish for a new experience in La Liga, and Maresca treated the departure as part of a familiar cycle rather than a crisis.
He drew a direct line through the club’s recent history to make the point. “When Sergio was here, everyone was worried and Erling arrived,” Maresca said, referencing the transition from Sergio Agüero to Erling Haaland. “Fernandinho? Rodri arrived. It is just about this.”
For Maresca, the succession pattern extends beyond the striker and defensive-midfield positions. He listed several of the club’s recent departures and arrivals in the same breath — David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Rodri, Haaland — as evidence that regeneration is built into how City operate. “When they leave, you need to be good in recruiting the next one,” he said. “It is normal, it is change, it is not a problem, go again and try to do the right things.”
Trimming the squad
Replacing Rodri is only part of Maresca’s late-summer workload. The manager also confirmed he wants to bring his senior outfield squad down to around 20 players heading into the new season, a target that requires further business before the window shuts.
That process is complicated by players whose futures remain unresolved. “It doesn’t help that there are players that for different reasons want to leave, that is for sure,” Maresca said. “But we need to adapt. There are 10 days to go, hopefully we can do the things that we need to do.”
Bracing for a late window
Maresca isn’t expecting City’s business to wrap up quietly or early. He acknowledged the familiar rhythm of the transfer market, where selling clubs typically hold out until the closing days in search of better fees. “The normal thing in the transfer window is that you have to wait until the last week, because all the clubs try to keep players until the last week and then sell for more money,” he said.
His expectation is that clarity will only arrive once the deadline is in sight. “At the end, we’ll have all the squad here for sure it will be different,” Maresca concluded — a reminder that City’s post-Rodri rebuild, in both departures and arrivals, is still very much in motion.
