Rodri has already shown he could play next to Declan Rice and Mateo Kovacic in Man City midfield

Last season, Rodri was so important that he played almost every game for Manchester City and scored their biggest goal of the season when it looked like the Champions League final might be following a familiar pattern.

Kalvin Phillips - through injury and form - couldn't offer enough of a challenge to Rodri, and Pep Guardiola eventually had to train his full-backs and centre-backs to offer support in defensive midfield instead.

With Ilkay Gundogan leaving, it makes sense for City to seek another stable midfielder, and Mateo Kovacic has had a medical as he nears a transfer from Chelsea for £25m. There is also interest in Declan Rice - although talk of an imminent bid from the Etihad may be premature.

Should Rice join Kovacic, the inevitable questions will follow: how will they fit in the City midfield alongside someone as undroppable as Rodri?

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A clue may come from Spain, where Rodri has been deployed in central defence for his country. Guardiola, too, has increasingly used Rodri as a utility defender, often dropping into the back line when a full-back roams forward.

Towards the end of the season, as John Stones and others moved into midfield, or even both full-backs at once, often the last line of defence was simply a back two, consisting of Ruben Dias and one other. In those scenarios, Rodri moved back for extra cover, knowing there were still enough bodies in midfield.

Take a look at the Champions League final, too. The official UEFA teamsheets are often an indication of how a team will not line up, regularly guessing Guardiola's false nine wrong between 2020-2022. In the final in Istanbul,