Manchester City faced a major blow by witnessing midfield sensation Rodri suffer a season-ending knee injury in their dramatic 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
Shortly before his injury, the Spanish midfielder had complain about how the congested fixture schedule could force footballers to ‘go on strike’ because of the threat of more injuries.
Unfortunately, he became the victim of a horrible knee injury that ends his campaign. His absence means that the Cityzens are now short of quality options in that no.6 role in Pep Guardiola’s side.
Mateo Kovacic has turned out to be Rodri’s direct replacement and done reasonably well, even scoring a brace in the recent 3-2 win over Fulham in the Premier League.
But Guardiola realizes that his side needs a figure who can be defensively more secure in that ‘Rodri role’ and someone who can shield the backline properly.
That is probably why the Cityzens have started to look into possible solutions to the current issue that has popped up since Rodri’s injury.
Well it appears that the Cityzens might’ve found an ideal short-term replacement for Rodri in the player who actually replaced him in the Euro 2024 final earlier this year.
Indeed, as per Spanish outlet Relevo, the Premier League champions are now seriously interested in the prospect of signing Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
The Spaniard was involved in a very interesting transfer saga with Liverpool earlier this summer. The Reds strongly pushed to sign him, but Zubimendi opted against accepting their offer as he wanted to stay loyal to Real Sociedad.
Now, Pep Guardiola wants to use some of his swaying power to make Zubimendi change his mind and join his project at Manchester City.
Relevo claims that the Cityzens are ready to ‘do anything’ to sign Zubimendi and are not ruling out a move for him in the 2025 January transfer window.
They are aware of a £50.3 million release clause being inserted into the Spanish midfielder’s contract and that he’s yet to sign a contract extension with Real Sociedad, with his current deal expiring in 2027.
Zubimendi is appreciated for his impressive passing ability and defensive sturdiness, as he’s averaging 2.47 tackles and 1.29 interceptions per match in La Liga this season.
But the Cityzens are also aware the midfielder has a strong loyalty to his current club and it won’t be easy to sign him, which is why they are also considering other options.
It has also been claimed by The Guardian that Manchester City are eyeing up a potential move for Torino midfielder Samuele Ricci in the January transfer window.
The 23-year-old midfielder has proven to be an impressive defensive midfielder to help Torino win three of their first seven Serie A matches of the 2024/25 season.
The Guardian have claimed that the Cityzens might have to shell out as high as £30 million for Ricci’s signing and that he’s considered as a prominent long-term option than just a stop-gap until Rodri is fit.
Ricci has proven to be a combative midfielder in Serie A this season, averaging 1.97 clearances and 1.21 tackles+interceptions per 90 minutes.
Ricci seems to be surprisingly calm with his links to the Premier League giants, as he recently reacted to the rumours by stating: “I’ve learned to understand a little: as soon as you do well, a lot of things come out. They’re nice but you shouldn’t get too big for your boots. I still have a lot of things to improve on. I look at them, friends send me articles. But I think more about concrete things, that is, the green rectangle [the pitch].”
After only signing Savinho and Ilkay Gundogan (free transfer) in the summer, Manchester City definitely have the funds to make a big move in the January.
Considering their lacking of a quality no.6, with Kovacic being more of a box-to-box midfielder, it won’t be surprising if Pep Guardiola’s side makes a prominent midfield signing in January to significantly strengthen their push for major titles the second half of the campaign.
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