Манчестер Ситигийн хагас хамгаалагч Родри ирэх улирлаас Барселонагийн бүрэлдэхүүнд нэгдэхээр болсон нь Премьер лигийн хувьд томоохон өөрчлөлт болж байна.
Дэлхийн аваргын тэмцээний дараа Родри гэрээгээ сунгах бодолгүй байгаа нь тодорхой болсон бөгөөд энэ шийдвэр нь тоглогч болон клубийн хооронд хагарал үүсгэв. Зарим хөгжөөн дэмжигчид түүнийг багийнхаа төлөө хийсэн бүхнийг үнэлж, чөлөөтэй шийдвэр гаргах эрхтэй гэж үзэж байгаа бол нөгөө хэсэг нь 18 сарын турш гэмтэлтэй байсан тоглогчийг багтаа үлдэх ёстой байсан хэмээн шүүмжилж байна.
Родри нь Манчестер Ситид байх хугацаандаа 2023 оны Аваргуудын лигийн шигшээ тоглолтод хожлын гоолыг оруулж, багийнхаа түүхэн дэх анхны “гурвал”-ыг бүрдүүлэхэд гол үүрэг гүйцэтгэсэн билээ. Тэрээр 2024 онд “Алтан бөмбөг” хүртэж, Дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээний шилдэг тоглогчоор тодорсон нь түүнийг үеийнхээ шилдэг хагас хамгаалагчдын нэг гэдгийг баталсан юм.
Түүнийг Премьер лигийн түүхэн дэх хамгийн нөлөө бүхий тоглогчдын нэгд зүй ёсоор тооцдог хэдий ч Барселона руу явах болсон нь түүнийг Манчестер Ситигийн домогт тоглогчдын жагсаалтад эзлэх байр суурийг бүдгэрүүлж болзошгүй байна. Гэсэн хэдий ч талбайн төвд тоглолтыг удирдаж, багийнхаа амжилтын тулгуур болж байсан түүний оруулсан хувь нэмэр нь хэзээ ч мартагдахгүй юм.
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Rodri’s departure from Manchester City is seismic for the club and the Premier League as a whole, as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation departs for Barcelona.
It is news that City fans had not really been contemplating just a couple of months ago, but after the World Cup, it became clear that he had no intention of signing a new contract.
With Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku agreeing new deals this summer, there were hopes that Rodri would have instructed his representatives to take care of things while he was away with his country, as the others had done.
But after the reality became known that he had no intention of renewing — which had been decided long before the summer — there was an immediate split among City fans.
One camp felt he owed nothing to the club, that he had given them his best years and played as big a role as anybody in taking City to the top of the world game.
Others believe that, after 18 months injured, he owed City a bit more. That anyone willing to leave could never be considered a club legend in the same way that Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, John Stones, Fernandinho and others who were moved on before they had the chance to walk out.
Rodri limps out of a game against Arsenal in September 2024 (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
A new City documentary reveals De Bruyne’s tears when he was asked about the impact on his family of being told that his contract was not being renewed. That may serve as important context: while clubs can decide that players are no longer of use, players, naturally, have to make decisions that work for them.
In Rodri’s case, he is coming off the back of a serious knee injury and back into a Premier League that has cranked up the physicality and dynamism. He had always intended to return to Spain — had always liked the idea of Real Madrid, actually, although Barcelona were evidently never off the cards — and the chance to do so now provides him with the opportunity to play a less physically demanding style of football. A bit like at the World Cup.
The flip side of making those very understandable decisions is that it may come at the cost of some supporters’ love. Across the football world, true legends are not just the best players but also those who gave every drop of sweat for their clubs. That is especially true at City, who have such a long list of club legends, even from the past 15 years alone.
Rodri reached a level that few others managed, controlled matches with his game understanding, added a goal threat and became the lynchpin of one of the best teams in Premier League history, if not the best.
That should see him placed towards the very top of the obligatory conversations about all-time Premier League greats — or at least the great midfielders, as forwards generally tend to dominate the best-ever lists.
He might just do it, you know. The very English mentality that ensured Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were continually paired together for the national team, at the expense of someone exactly like Rodri, may have meant, for a time, that the Spaniard was a little too refined, a little too subtle for British tastes.
But after a slow start to his City career, as he became increasingly acclimatised to the English game, he added the kind of blood-and-thunder approach that domestic audiences cherish. He was already muscling his way around midfield, barging people out of the way, but then he got forward more, added more goals, put the team on his shoulders.
Rodri scores the only goal of the 2023 Champions League final against Inter (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
It should never have been controversial that he won the Ballon d’Or in 2024 — it was only Real Madrid’s petulant response that made it seem that way. While there is some ill feeling towards him for leaving, it is a lot easier for City fans to swallow that he is not going to the Bernabeu.
And how have the last few years gone since he won the Ballon d’Or? Well, he missed most of the last two seasons with that knee injury but he enhanced his reputation — the idea that City struggle in his absence was firmly cemented — and then he won the World Cup, while being named the tournament’s best player.
There are a couple of quibbles there — City actually won 60 per cent of their Premier League matches without him over the past two seasons, compared to 50 per cent with him, and you could make the argument that Lionel Messi, at 39, had a far more breathtaking summer — but the bottom line is that Rodri and his legacy are basically untouchable.
He is not just in conversations with Barcelona and Spain great Sergio Busquets, but is being hailed as even greater. He was already a truly magnificent player but a World Cup — particularly this latest World Cup, with the fever of its coverage — has made him a legend of the game. He will be remembered, globally, as the metronome of the second great Spain side.
His exit to Barcelona may cost him a few places in the all-time rankings of City fans, but nothing can change what he achieved for the club. For all the counter-attacks he stopped and the presses he broke, sitting at the top of the pile is the fact that he scored the winning goal when City won the Champions League for the first time in their history, delivering the treble.
“Rodri’s on fire, your defence is terrified,” they sang in the City dressing room after beating Inter in Istanbul, a night that many fans will look back upon as one of the best of their lives.
That is Rodri’s City legacy.
