The 2026-27 season will mark the first time in ten years that Pep Guardiola has not been one of the dominant forces in the Premier League. After six Premier League trophies and a Champions League title to his name, Pep Guardiola finally closed the curtains on his time at Manchester City, making way for a new era.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs we saw with Sir Alex Ferguson leaving Manchester United in the early 2010’s, it’s not always easy to come out of a dominant managerial reign. It can even take years of bad decisions to finally start to get it right again. It’s not as easy as securing one of Pep’s many disciples, and playing similar football. The adjustment period will take time. Especially, for a Manchester City side that have lost so much of what made them great over the past five years.
Over the past few seasons, they’ve lost so many of the figureheads that made them one of the greatest Premier League sides in history. İlkay Gündoğan, Kevin de Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji all departed the club prior to last season, marking the beginning of the end of an era. They’ve now lost John Stones and Bernardo Silva this summer; not just Guardiola. In finding names synonymous with the best years under Pep, all that’s left is Rúben Dias, Rodri, and Erling Haaland.
Embed from Getty ImagesHaaland seems happy and has a great supporting cast and crew. Rúben Dias will still command the back. But now it appears that even Rodri could be on his way out.
Embed from Getty ImagesAbove anyone else, possibly even Erling Haaland, Rodri is impossible to replace. Rodri has been impossible to replace whenever he’s been injured across the past two campaigns. Rodri was one of the key reasons why Spain won the World Cup. Rodri was one of the key reasons why City won the Champions League a few years ago.
Embed from Getty ImagesRodri is like if you combined Sergio Busquets’ intelligence and spatial awareness with Paul Scholes’ passing range, and then put that player in a Casemiro or Nemanja Matic body. He’s got everything you could ever want in a defensive midfielder. The size and stature. The tough tackling, ground covering, space annihilating mobility in transition. The world class passing range to switch play left from right and break lines. The leadership and experience to command a midfield all on his own. All of that is Rodri.
Embed from Getty ImagesElliot Anderson is a fantastic player. But even he might struggle to fill Rodri’s boots, especially if he’s meant to be restricted to just being the ‘6’ in the side. He’s best as that hybrid ‘8’/6′, paired with someone that can also cover ground and command defensive situations. 32-year-old Mateo Kovačić would be solid in that role, but the Croatian also prefers to venture from box-to-box. So in having a clearly defined ‘6’, it would be up to Nico González. González is great. But he’s not Rodri.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf Rodri wants to stay, City should keep hold of him, at any price. If Rodri wants to leave, City will need to decide between keeping a player against their will, or lowering the price to satisfy the deal. The Spaniard is 30 years old now. He still has plenty of football left in his boots, but he won’t command the same fee that City paid for Elliot Anderson, who became the most expensive Englishman ever, at the age of 23. If City want an Anderson level price for the now 30-year-old Rodri, they might not get it.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis is now a critical point in City’s upcoming campaign. If they sell Rodri, securing any form of a replacement will be difficult. It’s not like Juventus will want to let go of Manuel Locatelli. PSG won’t want to give up Fabian Ruiz or Vitinha. Chelsea aren’t parting ways with Caicedo, nor Bayern with Kimmich. There is no direct replacement that can live up to Rodri’s standard, especially not one they can afford after spending £116 million on Anderson.
Embed from Getty ImagesThat’s an issue, given that the answer could lie in Elliot Anderson’s hands. Those are some big boots to fill. Even Rodri had some overlap with Fernandinho as he acclimatized to the role and made it his own. Anderson will be thrown in alongside a partner that had to play second-fiddle last season. Whether that be Kovačić, Reijnders or González. All three would work for Anderson, who doesn’t need anything fancy around him to flourish. But that is, at the very least, a brand new midfield that Maresca will have to get right.
Embed from Getty ImagesRodri and Anderson is a Premier League / Champions League winning combination in midfield. Throw Rayan Cherki higher up to support City’s front-three, and suddenly Maresca doesn’t have to work miracles to get City back on track. Take Rodri out of that equation, and the drop-off will be felt.
Fortunately for Manchester City, that’s the only real question in an otherwise settled squad.
Embed from Getty ImagesJoško Gvardiol will return at the back to support Rúben Dias, Marc Guehi, and Abdukodir Khusanov. Meanwhile, Matheus Nunes impressed as one of the best right-backs in the league last season, despite not actually being a right-back. Nico O’Reilly will continue to emerge as one of the best left-backs in the division, offering additional support in midfield if Maresca opts to deploy Gvardiol or Ait-Nouri in the position instead.
Embed from Getty ImagesMeanwhile, Maresca can make a decision regarding the future of Jack Grealish, using him as a supporting player to Jérémy Doku, Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden. Up top, Erling Haaland is the undeniable star, and still has support off the bench from Omar Marmoush. In goal, Gianluigi Donnarumma remains one of the best in the world.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith not just two but three of the best centre-backs in the world backed up by one of the best in goal, City won’t concede a ton of goals this campaign… Rodri or not.
There isn’t an awful lot of room for Enzo Maresca to go wrong here. He has all the makings of a great side. It would be more of a Premier League winning team with Rodri and Bernardo Silva. But it’s still a fantastic team capable of challenging for the title as things stand.
Embed from Getty ImagesAny attacking reinforcements would be borderline unnecessary. He has the best attacking trio in the league at his disposal. He has multiple creators and floaters, and a plethora of box-to-box midfielders. The one and only doubt really just surrounds Rodri, and that could be the difference between a title-ready team, and a top four side. That’s it.
For their sake, here’s to hoping he stays, and that City’s lineup looks something like this next season.
If you enjoyed this preview, be sure to check out all the other articles in this series below! Thanks for reading and see you soon.
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