Manchester City are looking to make it three wins from three games this week as the club travel to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United.
It has been a great start to the campaign from Manchester City.
There was a solid 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, then a ruthless Erling Haaland-inspired victory over newly promoted Ipswich Town.
To start with a couple of wins will be important.
City tend to start seasons slowly and with players returning late this summer, there was potential for that to be the case again.
But City look decent at the moment – and now, ahead of the game with West Ham, Pep Guardiola has received a major boost.
Rodri finally pictured back in training for Man City
City midfielder Rodri has finally resumed training at City, as per the batch of new photos the club released to the public yesterday via their website.
The Spaniard had been given extra time off following his exertions for Spain at Euro 2024.
Rodri went all the way with his country, but picked up an injury in the final against England, which forced him off at half-time.
City have been tight-lipped over that injury, but clearly it wasn’t serious, with Rodri now back training with his City teammates at the CFA.
It is unclear whether this will mean he’s in contention to get minutes against West Ham United.
Pep would no doubt like to start the player Eddie Howe believes is the best in the Premier League right now. Especially after Mateo Kovacic limped out of the win over Ipswich last weekend. But the contest might just come a bit too soon for him.
Rodri may not be risked
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
It is a huge positive for City to have Rodri finally back in training.
Fans know how integral a player the £63 million man is, and City are undoubtedly a much stronger outfit with him in the team.
That said, it may be that he is not risked this weekend. It would be a surprise to see him start anyway.
Rodri will be lacking match sharpness, so the manager might be inclined to turn to Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva as his holding midfielders if Kovacic cannot play. There are always the options of Rico Lewis and/or John Stones, or even the exit-linked Matheus Nunes.
A lot of City fans would actually love for Rodri not to feature, so that he can return to action nice and refreshed after the upcoming international break.
