Manchester City were dealt another injury blow during their recent 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
Making his first Premier League start of the season, Rodri was forced off the pitch in the first half of Sunday’s clash with the Gunners with a suspected knee injury.
In fact, it was since reported that Rodri has damaged his ACL and could be out of action for the rest of the season.
This has now led to one pundit and former City manager sharing his thoughts about one player Pep Guardiola could turn to to help his side deal with the midfielder’s absence going forward.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Stuart Pearce on whether John Stones could replace Rodri in midfield for Man City
Appearing in a recent video shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, Stuart Pearce said this when asked if John Stones could fill the midfield void left by Rodri as a result of his injury.
He said: “Well, he has certainly stepped in there in previous time. He has not done it so often recently, you know. He starts at centre-half, then dips in and plays in that role.
“You can see it in some ways, but you know when you compare him to Rodri like for like on what he might offer, he has done it brilliantly in the past, a couple of years ago.
“But he has not got that ability further forward up the pitch to get that odd goal every now and then.”
Stones has experience playing in midfield
As Pearce mentioned, Stones has experience when it comes to playing in midfield for City.
In fact, the Englishman played the second half of the club’s Treble-winning season in a defensive-midfield role alongside Rodri.
Back in August, Phil Foden claimed that Stones has what it takes to play in midfield regularly due to his technical ability on the ball.
Moving forward, after scoring the crucial late equaliser against Arsenal, it’ll be interesting to see if Guardiola does decide to play Stones in midfield again on a regular basis while Rodri is out.
