Man City handed bleak Rodri injury verdict as Pep Guardiola fears realised in huge blow

Manchester City have been warned that Rodri may "never return" to his pre-injury level after being ruled out for the season.

Pep Guardiola confirmed on Friday that City's hugely influential midfielder will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his knee ligament injury. Rodri went down injured during the first half of City's 2-2 draw against Arsenal on Sunday.

And Guardiola's worst fears have now been realised in what is a huge blow to City's ambitions this season. The Spaniard has played a key role in midfield having helped City win a record four consecutive Premier League titles.

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Football injury expert Ben Dinnery has now told Instant Casino that “there’s no given right” Rodri will ever return to the levels he exhibited before his knee injury. Dinnery suggests that it could take up to 18 months for Rodri to be able to play every single game again.

“I think the assumption is that it’s season over for Rodri,” he said before details of Rodri's injury were confirmed. “I’m presuming it’s an ACL injury based on the action, which means you’re typically looking at over 270 days for recovery.

“What we have to remember however is that a return to play doesn’t necessarily mean a return to performance. What we’ve seen in recent times is that it’s not usually until that 12-18 month period that we begin to see consistent levels of optimal performances every week – the most common example of this is with Virgil van Dijk.

“There’s certainly no guarantee or given right that Rodri will ever return to those pre-injury levels, even if he