Man City get reminder of their biggest change amid Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool splurge

It's shaping up to be quite a battle at the top in the Premier League next season. Liverpool have broken the British transfer record after winning the title, Arsenal are finally signing a striker amid a huge spending spree, and Chelsea have just won the Club World Cup in style to lay down their own marker.

Even Tottenham are beginning to loosen the purse strings and calling the battle for the top four and the title race right now looks difficult. Manchester City enjoyed a head start with their £111million transfer activity in June, signing Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki.

Since then, their rivals have also spent heavily. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham are all on course to outspend City, and given the size of Pep Guardiola's squad, it's possible that incomings are already over at the Etihad.

But amid all the transfer analysis and the questions and predictions ahead of next season, City's biggest game changer might not be a new signing at all. When the focus has turned to the ins and outs and the cash being spent in the Premier League, it's easy to forget City spent almost all of last season without Rodri.

At least it's easy for neutrals to forget. City supporters know just how important their defensive midfielder is and how costly his absence proved to be as last season turned into one of toil.

After all, this is a player who won the Ballon d'Or. With other teams spending big, today might be a timely reminder of the player City are getting back, and one who might feel like a new signing.

It's been a year since Spain won the Euro 2024 final, and although Rodri went off at half-time against England, he was still named player of the tournament. It capped another