Rodri has admitted that there is a midfielder outside of his Manchester City team in the Premier League who he tries to learn from.
Such an admission from the City maestro will come as a surprise to many, considering he has a case for being the league’s best overall player.
It seems like Rodri has well and truly mastered his role as a defensive midfielder and he is already one of the greatest players the game has ever seen in his position, with Micah Richards claiming he is the best number six he has laid his eyes on since Sergio Busquets.
Considering the 27-year-old has already been mentioned in the same conversation as a great of the game like Busquets just goes to show that he is a future legendary midfielder in the making.
Rodri admits he “always” tries to learn from “great midfielders” like Declan Rice
But even so, it seems like Rodri is anything but way too big for his boots and is always trying to hone his craft.
It is perhaps this very relentless pursuit of perfection that is the driving force behind the Spanish international’s gradual improvement season upon season.
Elite athletes are advised not to let complacency creep into their psyche and the three-time Premier League winner seems to be aware of that.
Ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming clash against Arsenal, Rodri explained that he tries to learn from midfielders like Declan Rice, who he views as a different type of player to him.
“I think he’s of course very strong physically, he can make runs of 30-40 metres so easily because he has this power to do it. So, I think that’s why we are different kinds of players but at the same time, we play in the same position and I always say that I try learn from the best midfielders so far in my career”, he told Sky Sports.
Even Declan Rice described Rodri as a “monster” and revealed that the Manchester City cohort who play for England have told him that their team is not the same when he is not playing.
Rice also recently analysed how the treble-winner is an expert at connecting the midfield to the attack and is always positioned correctly to receive the ball.
There seems to be mutual respect between Rodri and the Arsenal midfielder
Arguably being the two best holding midfielders in the world, one would expect Rodri and Declan Rice to fiercely compete with each other to cement their status as the superior player.
Perhaps that might be the case behind closed doors.
But publicly, Rodri and Rice have expressed their respect towards the other’s game, which is lovely to hear.
The best way to compete with one another would be on the pitch but off it, it would be disingenuous of either to deny that the other is not a cracking player.
The pair have acknowledged each other’s magnificence as they continue to raise the bar for other defensive midfielders in the game.
