Jermain Defoe has claimed that Manchester City midfielder Rodri is as important to the team as Erling Haaland.
With the Citizens set to take on Arsenal tomorrow for their latest Premier League clash, the away side will be without the Spaniard in the middle of the pitch as he’ll be serving the final game of his suspension.
This has since led to one pundit and former Premier League star sharing his thoughts on the 27-year-old and the impact his absence will have on the team heading into tomorrow’s clash at the Emirates.
Defoe says Rodri is as important as Haaland
Speaking in a recent edition of The Kelly & Wrighty Show by Premier League Productions (via Optus Sport), Defoe had this to say about Rodri.
He said: “He’s just as important as a Haaland, someone that’s going to score 30 goals. Because if you look at the way City play and how a lot of teams want to play, that position is so important because everything goes through that man and Pep wants his players to stand in positions and then if that’s the case you need someone to break lines and he does that.
“For me, he’s the best in the world at doing that, when he’s missing it’s a massive miss for City.”
Bearing in mind how Rodri played in all but five of City’s matches across all competitions last season, this shows how much of a crucial figure he is for Pep Guardiola.
Having been unavailable for the Manchester club’s Carabao Cup clash against Newcastle United and their previous league match against Wolves, both of which ended in defeat for the treble winners, this highlights how vulnerable the team are without the midfielder in the side.
Even though he doesn’t get the plethora of goals that Haaland has during his time at the Etihad Stadium, Rodri has shown that his contributions to the team are significant but in a different way.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s showdown against Mikel Arteta’s side, it’s undeniable that a tough task has been made even harder without the Spanish international’s presence.
