Another operation, another summer of speculation
Rodri will undergo surgery on Monday morning at a clinic in Madrid, with the specific nature of the back issue and the expected recovery period not yet publicly confirmed by either the player or Manchester City. The procedure comes just days after the midfielder won the Golden Ball and led Spain to their second World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday's final in New Jersey.
No timetable for Rodri's recovery has yet been confirmed.
According to journalist @Rodra10_97 of ESPN, the surgery will take place on Monday morning at a clinic in Madrid. The Athletic's Sam Lee and Guillermo Rai subsequently confirmed the surgery, adding that no concrete return timetable would be established until the procedure had been completed and assessed by the medical staff involved.
The midfielder's contract situation at the Etihad Stadium is still unresolved. A cluster of elite clubs including Real Madrid, PSG and Barcelona are understood to have been circling in the background ahead of the window's final weeks.
A history of setbacks
This isn't Rodri's first major medical hurdle. An ACL rupture in September 2024 kept him sidelined for approximately 220 days — yet he still earned the Ballon d'Or later that year.
The £116 million arrival of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest provides some mitigation. Though Anderson's profile is as a box-to-box midfielder rather than a defensive anchor.
City's 2026-27 season opens with the Community Shield against Arsenal in South Wales on August 16. The Premier League campaign begins at the Etihad Stadium against Bournemouth on August 23. The Manchester derby against Manchester United is on September 13. The visit to Anfield to face Liverpool is on October 10.
Whether Rodri features in any of those fixtures remains, for now, entirely unknown.