Rodrigo Hernandez is officially on top of the football world as he was named the 68th Ballon d’Or winner at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday evening. The 28-year-old becomes the first Manchester City player to ever win the award having been a vital cog at the base of Pep Guardiola’s midfield.
Crucial in and out of possession, Rodri has lifted 11 major honours in five years at the Etihad Stadium, including four Premier League titles.
That beacon of consistency and excellence peaked last season when Rodri won the Premier League and UEFA Super Cup, alongside a Player of the Tournament display in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph. The achievement cemented his status as one of the best players in the world despite a tally of nine goals and 14 assists in 50 matches.
Rodri’s game revolves around stopping the opposition and keeping his own team flowing, so his goal contributions total is yet impressive for his position.
The Man City anchorman is unbeaten in 52 Premier League games, a streak going back to February 2023 while he only lost the Champions League quarter-final to Real Madrid on penalties, and the FA Cup final to Manchester United throughout last season.
The 28-year-old has a similarly faultless record with Spain having not ended up on a losing side since a defeat to Scotland in March 2023.
Following his international exploits with La Roja over the summer, Rodri was given an extended post-season break and only 21 minutes into his first Premier League start of the season, he ruptured the ACL in his right knee against Arsenal.
Understandably, City have been fearing the worst given they lost in three of the four league matches Rodri missed last term.
They have coped better in the absence of the midfielder and are unbeaten so far in the Premier League, but Pep Guardiola will sorely miss the brain of his side over the course of the season.
Rodri is irreplaceable for City with no one in world football offering the level of quality he provides in that role.
Premier League fans are looking forward to how City perform without their midfield lynchpin as Arsenal are stronger than ever having finished as runners‑up for consecutive seasons.
The FootballCastle takes a closer look at how Guardiola is adjusting to a season-defining incident.
Rico Lewis
For City’s trip to Newcastle in their first league outing after Rodri’s injury, Rico Lewis was trusted to fill the void. The 19-year-old usually operates as a hybrid fullback-cum-midfielder as the manager sees fit, after Guardiola previously described him as a “little Philipp Lahm”.
Lewis looks very comfortable coming into the half-spaces in midfield and his tenacity alongside his refined technical ability makes him a good fit for the holding role. Although he does not have the physical presence of Rodri, it will rarely be needed when City dominate possession against most of their opponents.
The youngster already looks like the closest to a long-term successor for Rodri as Guardiola admires his technical mastery. He has been almost ever-present for the Cityzens so far this season with 14 appearances from 15 games in all competitions and would continue to enjoy more playing time, not only as an option in holding midfield but as a replacement for the ageing Kyle Walker.
Ilkay Gundogan
The German returned to the Etihad Stadium after one season at Barcelona, and his presence within the squad is even more essential now that Rodri will miss the rest of the season. Gundogan has often provided the perfect blend of aggression and composure either at the base of midfield or slightly higher up as a ‘Number 8’ for City.
The 34-year-old helps City keep control of games and limit counterattacks, with the likes of Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden also contributing with aggressive pressing high up the pitch. In Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic, City have two very good central midfielders who can do a capable job defensively till the end of the season, even if no signings are made in the January transfer window.
Mateo Kovacic
The Croatian Kovacic is neither a defensive juggernaut nor a goalscoring midfielder, but you do not end up at Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City without being a top-quality midfielder.
The 30-year-old has had an excellent start to the season as he covered for Rodri in the early matches, but has now become a key player in those deep midfield positions. Kovacic is up to three league goals, his best goalscoring campaign already since 2014/15 for Inter Milan, and he is set for a big role this term.
Kovacic, himself, said: “I am playing there in the middle at the moment and of course we need to cover for Rodri, we miss him a lot.
“For now we have to adapt and for sure the manager has a lot of options, so we can rotate.”
Guardiola will depend on Kovacic throughout this season and he can now make his mark as a central part of their challenge for trophies.
Matheus Nunes
The Portugal international has had to wait for an opportunity to feature regularly since arriving from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported £53m in the summer of 2023. Meanwhile, his patience finally paid off in the month of October.
In the absence of Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku, Nunes has started as a left winger in Man City’s last three matches and is finally making a name for himself having now played a role in all of their last five goals.
The 26-year-old put in a man-of-the-match display during City’s 5-0 win over Sparta Prague in the UEFA Champions League as he set up John Stones and Erling Haaland before netting the fifth from a penalty he had won. He followed that up by assisting Haaland for the only goal against Southampton, then scored City’s consolation in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
This solid run of form leaves Nunes with three goals and four assists from only five starts this term as begins to look like he belongs as a City player. The stars appear to be aligning for him to take centre stage, and his versatility is key to this.
Being a strong option on the flank, inside-forward positions or in central midfield, Nunes fits City’s system in numerous positions and he should now keep his place in the side. Even when both Grealish and Doku return to fitness, Nunes can fill a spot deeper and Guardiola will be pleased with his progress.
Although he is yet to fully convince that he can be a long-term central midfielder at the Etihad, where legendary names like De Bruyne, Rodri, David Silva and Yaya Toure have donned the sky blue, Nunes has attributes that the current crop don’t have.
His tenacity, recovery pace, dribbling and technical attributes mean he can be depended on wherever needed, and he will become indispensable should he keep up this form.
Pertinently, Guardiola now has another string to his bow, considering the excessive number of matches available to play this season
City are the only unbeaten team left in the English top-flight and returning players will continue to strengthen the side. Despite the significant absence of Rodri, there is enough quality to see them through an unprecedented fifth consecutive Premier League title.
