One Manchester City player has found himself on the end of some heavy praise from one of the Premier League’s former stars.
Specifically, former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit has shared his thoughts on one of 14 players that City have seen feature for their countries in the 2024 European Championship.
With the first of the two semi-final games set to get underway this evening, at least one City player is guaranteed to be in the final of the tournament.
Looking ahead to tonight’s opening semi-final showdown, Petit was full of praise for one of the City players who will be hoping to help his side secure a place in Sunday’s final.
Emmanuel Petit hails Rodri for Spain performances at Euro 2024
While previewing tonight’s semi-final clash between Spain and France in a recent video shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, Emmanuel Petit had this to say when asked about Rodri, who Paul Merson recently said is on a different level to the likes of Toni Kroos and Declan Rice.
He said: “He’s a beautiful player with great technical abilities and the vision as well. The tempo in terms of movement is great between the lines right behind the striker. His connection as well is very good with the strikers.”
Rodri has taken his City form to the Euros
Having played more minutes than any other outfield player in the Spain squad at the Euros, this mirrors his importance to Pep Guardiola’s side, as the midfielder ended the previous Premier League campaign with more minutes on the pitch than any of his City teammates.
With Petit also mentioning how effective Rodri is in terms of moving between the lines further up the pitch and having strong connections with the attacking figures he’s playing with, this is backed up by the fact that the Spaniard made more passes into the final third of the pitch (378) than any other City player in the league last season.
During the Euros, Rodri currently has the second-highest total of passes into the final third of the pitch (32) in the Spain ranks, which highlights how the Premier League champion has been able to take his club form to the current international tournament.
