Nedum Onuoha was quizzed about whether Rodri or Sergio Busquets is the better player.
Danny Murphy claimed that the Euro 2024 winner is the greatest defensive midfielder he has ever seen.
However, with how much Busquets won as a part of arguably the best club and international team in the history of the game, perhaps many still side with him as the undisputed greatest number six of all time.
The fact that at 28 years of age, Rodri is already being compared to the Inter Miami midfielder is a testament to how far he has come in his career. During the Spaniard’s initial struggles in a Manchester City shirt, it would have been difficult to imagine he reaches such a high standard one day.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Nedum Onuoha claims Rodri is more complete than Sergio Busquets
Earlier this month, Ilkay Gundogan revealed that during his debut season at City, Rodri would often spend time just speaking to Pep Guardiola.
Perhaps these chats played a huge role in the £220,000-a-week man proving the sceptics wrong about his game.
Guardiola, however, promoted Busquets from Barcelona’s B team and from day one in the senior side, he emerged as a revelation for both club and country.
It is interesting to see which player is deemed superior nowadays.
According to Nedum Onuoha, while Busquets remains the better number six, Rodri is a much more complete midfielder than he ever was.
The pundit said via ESPN FC: “Because it says defensive midfielders, yes because you can make a case that Rodri and [N’Golo] Kante at times have been more attacking than [Sergio] Busquets was.”
“I think when you see the amount of goals that Rodri scores on a season-to-season basis, then if it was going to be someone that’s just a general midfielder, I’d go for those other two. But if you’re going defensive midfielder for the way that Barcelona team played, Busquets was one of one.”
Rodri is certainly more complete than Busquets was
Fairly, Nedum Onuoha sided with Busquets over Rodri as the better defensive midfielder — considering how incredibly press-resistant, skillful and masterful he was when controlling games for Barcelona and Spain.
The 36-year-old’s astounding longevity is also worth taking into account when comparing him to any other holding midfielder — as he spent 15 years playing for the Catalan giants.
However, as Onuoha claimed, Rodri is more complete than Busquets ever was.
The four-time Premier League winner is far more adept than the Spanish legend was at scoring goals, creating chances and being an all-round threat in the final third.
Rodri’s carrying of the ball is also superior to Busquets’, who was perhaps a better dribbler in tight spaces but lacked the powerful running his successor in the Spanish national team possesses in abundance.
The former would perhaps become even more productive as a number eight while the latter was an out-and-out holding midfielder.
