John Stones has today been speaking about his Manchester City teammate Rodri, and firmly stated he is ready to play in midfield moving forward if asked.
Manchester City are back in Champions League action tomorrow night against Slovan Bratislava in their second League Phase match.
City could only manage a draw in their opening game against Inter, and will be very keen to get their first win on the board against the Slovakian outfit.
There has been good news today, with Erling Haaland training as normal ahead of the clash, after picking up some knocks against Newcastle United.
But one man who will definitely not be featuring, of course, is Rodri.
It was confirmed last week that the Spaniard has suffered knee ligament damage, and John Stones spoke about potentially replacing his teammate.
John Stones says he is ‘100%’ ready to replace Rodri in midfield for Man City
It is highly likely that City fans will not be seeing Rodri play again this season.
The 28-year-old has now undergone his surgery, which was successful, and his long road to recovery will now begin.
Rodri will be a huge miss for City, and that is not lost on Stones.
He told reporters on Monday night: “If called upon, 100%. Difficult news for us all to take. It’s sad, the standard that he’s set over the last few seasons has been incredible and we know what a key player he is for us and we’ve got to look forward to him coming back, and hopefully coming back quickly.
“But (we have) a lot of quality and a lot of players more than capable of filling in in that position.”
Stones went on to tell reporters that he loves operating in midfield, describing playing there as a ‘totally different look on the game’ for him.
Stones has made just four appearances so far this season for City, with Pep Guardiola preferring Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias at the back so far, after Stones returned a little later than most of his teammates.
His experience of playing a hybrid role and pushing into midfield could now mean an increase in minutes for the England international.
Pundit Robbie Earle has suggested he could now be in for a really ‘interesting’ season because of Rodri’s injury, which is hard to disagree with.
Stones up for the task
City will obviously need to get used to playing without Rodri for the foreseeable future and Stones is certainly someone who could be useful in midfield.
We have seen it several times. Stones has the technicality and physicality to play successfully in midfield, and he will surely crop up there many times in the coming months.
Rodri is irreplaceable, but having Stones in there seems like a very solid solution.
Not as an out-and-out replacement to play as a single pivot. But certainly, as a player pushing up from the back to support either Mateo Kovacic or Ilkay Gundogan.
