How Pep Guardiola accidentally found Man City's perfect Rodri replacement

Rodri had probably not slept much by the time his teammates at Manchester City were reporting back for pre-season.

The night before City's first day back, Rodri was collecting the Euro 2024 trophy and the player of the tournament award to go with it. He would celebrate back in Madrid with his teammates (and inexplicably get himself involved in a geopolitical row at the same time). And then he took some well-deserved and much-needed time off.

That was six weeks ago as he took an extended holiday and then returned with some injury issues that have since kept him sidelined. Now he's back - a significant boost for City after the international break - but have they missed him?

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Last season, City played four games where Rodri was missing through suspension. They lost all four. They would win five when he was an unused substitute, while the FA Cup final defeat was his only loss all season, excluding penalty shoot-outs, from 50 appearances.

So it would be understandable if there were some nerves at the prospect of Rodri missing the start of the new campaign. But four games in, he has barely been mentioned and City boast a 100 per cent record.

Results were below-par in pre-season without the midfielder, as well as most of the other first team players, but two players stood out. Mateo Kovacic reported back after the first game, and showed himself far more accomplished in holding midfield than his outings there last season.

Helped by Nico O'Reilly, Kovacic told reporters in Orlando that he needs a partner to be most effective in holding midfield. O'Reilly wouldn't have been the obvious choice