John Obi Mikel has named Manchester City midfielder, Rodri, as the most important player in the Premier League.
The former Chelsea midfielder made 249 Premier League appearances during his time at the west London club, during which he played alongside and against many top players.
Now though, the Nigerian has shared his thoughts about one particular midfielder currently playing in the top flight.
Obi Mikel hails Rodri
Speaking in a recent video published on The Obi One Podcast YouTube channel, the former Chelsea midfielder had this to say about Rodri.
He said: “He is unbelievable. I was watching him on Sunday and I was thinking, we call this role ‘the Makelele role,’ I think that should go out of the window because this guy has taken that position and transformed it and made it 20x better.
“I was watching his defensive role, I was watching his position, I was watching the way he was controlling the ball. His position when he controls the ball, he is already facing the right way, he doesn’t need to turn around. He did it the whole game, absolute masterclass watching him.
“He is so important to this City team. No disrespect to Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira, legends that I’ve seen play in the Premier League in that position, but what Rodri is doing right now, the possession, the way he attacks, getting into the box creating chances, defending, tackling, everything, building up, everything goes through this guy. For me, like you’ve said, he’s the most important player in the Premier League.”
City signed the Spaniard back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Atletico Madrid in a deal worth £62m.
Since then, the 27-year-old has made 221 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions, scoring 20 goals and delivering 21 assists along the way.
This season has seen Rodri start all nine of the Premier League games he has been available for, highlighting how important he is for Pep Guardiola.
Across his nine league outings, the midfielder has made more progressive passes (85) than any other City player and has the highest combined total of tackles and interceptions (24) in the squad.
This backs up Obi Mikel’s point about Rodri being so effective in and out of possession for his side.
In terms of being a better and more well-rounded midfielder compared to the likes of Keane and Vieira, who are both in the official Premier League Hall of Fame, this is certainly a big claim given how highly thought of those two are.
Having been so successful during his time at City, we feel that if Rodri can continue to play regularly and at a high level on a consistent basis and help his side win more trophies, he should undoubtedly be viewed, more widely, as one of the best midfielders the Premier League has ever seen.
