Rodri (Madrid, 27 years old) is the Spanish footballer with the highest market value (120 million, according to Transfermarkt). He, however, travels on Ryanair. It is not the only paradox in the life of the midfielder. He shies away from marketing, but he studied business administration. He is considered the best midfielder in the world, but in the last World Cup he played as a center back. He is the leader of a signature team like Guardiola’s City, but he does not believe in style.
Everything, in any case, is done silently, with patience. Rodri speaks in the locker room. Of course, also in the field. “Leadership and captaincy have no pattern to follow. No one is taught to be a leader, you learn from your peers. I had Busquets and Ramos. A leader, in times of storm, must be calmer and provide light when people do not trust. The leader is the one who tries to make sure no one gets off the wagon.” And the first one who doesn’t want to get off the wagon is him, even though he has accumulated 5,107 minutes this season. A new paradox.
After City tied the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Madrid at the Bernabéu, Guardiola released his players. Rodri stayed at home, in Madrid. On his return to Manchester, far from using a private charter, he boarded a low-cost flight. He doesn’t like to show off or social networks. “I prefer a good conversation with a person to having thousands of messages on social networks. I know this is a rather unusual approach, especially when you practice a public-facing profession like football. I feel more comfortable this way,” explains Rodri. Son of an engineer and a marketing director, the midfielder began studying business management during his time at Villarreal. There, in the student residence, he met his partner Laura. She is medical; Both finished their careers in Manchester.
“I couldn’t tell Pep: ‘Sorry, I can’t go to the final, I have an exam,’” Rodri remembers. It was not his only difficulty: the midfielder had jumped from Simeone’s football to Guardiola’s. In his first season at City, the Madrid native went on an emotional roller coaster. There were even those at the Etihad who wanted to put it on the market. Pep’s staff did not agree: “Rodri is the future.” In the second year, however, Guardiola left him out of the eleven in the Champions League final: Gündogan played as a pivot in the defeat against Chelsea. But he did not give up. And he convinced Pep: “It was an incredible signing for City. He is the best in the world at his position. He can do everything. He has the quality to read the game, he has the right mentality, he is always ready. Rodri is top, top.”
However, Rodri, already established as the best of all in his position, agreed to delay his position in the World Cup in Qatar. Under the command of Luis Enrique, the City player went into the cave to leave Busquets as a 4. “He has been the best pivot in our history,” he acknowledged some time later. The RFEF praised the Madrid native’s attitude: “he assumed his role without protest. He proved to be a team player, intelligent.” His new position in Qatar required more physical effort: “I’m not used to those movements.” But he didn’t complain. Spain fell in the round of 16 and Rodri lifted the Champions League with City six months later. There were no longer any doubts, neither about Rodri’s football—MVP of the tournament—nor about Guardiola’s seal—he won the Orejona with a team other than Barcelona. Rodri, however, does not believe in styles: “The only one that counts is the one that leads you to win.”
As sober as he is discreet, as humble as he is focused, Rodri takes command at City and in Spain. Nobody accumulated as many minutes as him in Manchester (4,413) or in La Roja (694). A bustle (5,107 in total) that puts the Spanish expedition in Germany on alert. “Physically he is very good. He is a key player for us, very important. “We are not going to speculate,” said Luis de la Fuente.
“Rodri is on fire,” they sang in the Spanish team’s locker room after winning the Nations League. “Rodri is capable of dominating the game at will,” Spalletti surrenders. His football is burning; his physique, no. Rodri’s last paradox. And De la Fuente is worried.
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