"I agree with everything Rodri said," declared Jules Kounde of Barcelona. He's not the only one.
Ever since Rodri raised the possibility of a player strike to hit back at the increasing demands on elite footballers, he has got the response he would have wanted. He knew he had support within the Manchester City dressing room, but it would have been easy for the media to turn and other players to distance themselves.
But the PFA quickly backed Rodri's warning, and now Kounde's comments suggest the feelings are similar in Spain.
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“The calendar is getting longer every year, we have more matches and less time off," Kounde said this week. "We have been saying this for a long time and nobody pays attention to us, neither the players nor the coaches are listened to.
“There will come a time when we will have to go on strike because it’s the only way for those who decide to understand us. We take more and more risks, there are more injuries because there is less time off. Now with the Club World Cup, we are going to reach around 70 matches per season, which is crazy.”
Pep Guardiola first floated the concept of a strike last season and has been a vocal critic of the ever-growing calendar. Bernardo Silva, Manu Akanji and others have added to the increasing list of elite players criticising the workload, and Erling Haaland noted that the quality of the Euros this summer suffered as a result of tired players across the board.
But there is equally a reluctance from some to rock the boat. When Haaland was asked to expand on
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