Gabby Agbonlahor has placed Rodri just outside the five best players in Europe currently.
On talkSPORT (02/12/2023), the pundit named Erling Haaland as the standout player in the continent.
However, Gabby Agbonlahor believes there are five superior players in European football to the Manchester City lynchpin at the moment.
Gabby Agbonlahor ranks Rodri just outside the top five players in Europe
Recently, Glenn Hoddle said that the Sky Blues would not be as potent as a side if the £63 million (The Times) was restricted.
Mikel John Obi went as far as to claim that the 27-year-old has elevated the “Makelele Role” and is superior as an out-and-out defensive midfielder to legends of the game like Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane.
For Gabby Agbonlahor, however, Rodri isn’t quite up there with the top five players in Europe.
“Special mentions to Rodri, [Bukayo] Saka and [Mohamed] Salah, top, top players”, he told talkSPORT.
What more does Rodri have to do to be included in such a list?
As far as current form goes, in our view, Rodri has been exceptional once again off the back of a remarkable individual campaign, which makes the decision from Gabby Agbonlahor not to opt for him a surprising one.
To add to that, the Spanish international finished fifth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings, which goes to show how influential he was to Manchester City’s treble-winning season.
For three seasons in a row, the former Atletico Madrid anchor has been the standout No.6 in world football.
Furthermore, the decorated midfielder has a strong case for being the most vital player in the best team in the world, which emphasises how one-of-a-kind of a footballer he truly is.
As far as big games go as well, not many dominate quite like Rodri has in the Premier League and the Champions League over the years.
Having completed club football during his time at Manchester City too, it is a shock to discover that he was not an automatic selection on the list.
