Manchester City are now set to be without one of their key players for the rest of the 2024/25 season.
During last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, Rodri was forced off the pitch with a knee injury.
It was then revealed by Pep Guardiola that Rodri damaged his ACL and will be out until next season.
The midfielder had only made three appearances for the Blues this term having missed the first few weeks of the season recovering from a hamstring problem.
Even though the January transfer window is still some months away from opening, a journalist has now discussed whether the Premier League champions could launch a move to sign one specific player as a replacement for the injured Spaniard.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Journalist dismisses idea of Man City signing Joao Palhinha to replace Rodri
Speaking in a recent edition of FC Bayern Inisider, journalist Christian Falk had this to say on the prospect of City potentially signing Joao Palhinha as a replacement for Rodri in the upcoming January transfer window.
He said: “That is not true. City are of course considering what to do after Rodri’s injury. But with Palhinha, there’s no chance for the time being because he’s only just moved to Bayern and won’t be leaving straight away.
“It was his big dream to go to Bayern. And even if he’s not playing a major role at the moment, he’s playing second fiddle to Aleks Pavlovic in the six-man position.
“But he wants to assert himself and is not yet thinking about returning to England.”
What has Guardiola said about potentially signing a new midfielder in January to replace Rodri
After sharing the news of how long Rodri is likely to be out of action for, Guardiola also discussed the possibility of City potentially entering the winter transfer market to sign a new midfielder.
Specifically, the City boss said that he had spoken with Txiki Begiristain about it although reiterated that a decision doesn’t need to be made immediately.
Now that Falk has dismissed the possibility of Palhinha leaving Bayern Munich, who he only joined from Fulham for £46.5m (via BBC Sport) during the previous summer transfer window, to join City in January, the Manchester club may have to look elsewhere if they do decide to sign a new midfielder once the window opens.
