Fulham anchor Joao Palhinha has claimed that Rodri is the best defensive midfielder in the world.
Recently, Paul Merson also crowned the Spanish international as the standout player in his position in world football, despite him not being a “maverick”, in his opinion.
In January, Steve Sidwell went as far as to say that Declan Rice himself would admit that he is “nowhere near” Rodri as a player.
Joao Palhinha says Rodri is the best defensive midfielder in the world
A month earlier, Gabby Agbonlahor claimed that the £63 million (Daily Mail) man ranks just outside the five best players in Europe.
Joao Palhinha believes that Rodri is on another level than every defensive midfielder in the game.
“Rodri is a step higher than the other players [in defensive midfield], in my opinion. But it’s good that people like and respect me [because] it shows that my job here has been good.”
“I just focus on the job inside the pitch to try to get wins for my team, hopefully starting with Bournemouth”, he told Capital Football UK about the Manchester City maestro after Fulham’s latest 2-2 draw against Burnley.
Shows how well-respected Rodri is
Considering Joao Palhinha is regarded as one of the standout defensive midfielders in the Premier League, the fact that he believes Rodri is the best of the best shows how highly he is rated by his peers.
The Portuguese international is one hell of a player, renowned for how well he sweeps up any signs of danger in the middle of the park.
But even so, it is interesting to discover how Joao Palhinha views Rodri, despite several other top players also playing in his position across Europe such as Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni and Manchester United’s Casemiro to name a few.
Over the years, the 27-year-old has managed to raise the bar for defensive midfielders in football and it has clearly not gone unnoticed, judging by the former Sporting CP destroyer’s admission about him in his latest interview.
Knowing what it takes to be top-class at the base of midfield, one would not be surprised to discover if Joao Palhinha revealed one day that studies Rodri’s game to improve his game.
