With De Bruyne gone to Napoli and Kovačić injured, the news that they will also be without Rodri devastated me. Man City will definitely be lacking a defensive leader in the ranks, but someone will need to step up. Most likely, Tijjani Reijnders — he has the pedigree for it, but whether he’s suited to the Premier League remains to be seen.
Hoping for a quick recovery for Rodri — the first estimated return date for him is after the first international break.
He will return, he is just out for about another month, but he will be here for most of the season. The real question is, someone like him being out for this long, do we really believe that he is going to be ready?
I am guessing two issues, either he is going to be not ready at all and play badly for a while and may even re-injure himself trying to keep up. Or worse, he lost a step because of the injury and will never be the player he used to be (does happen to some people who had ACL injuries). This is why it makes sense for people to put some doubt on how he is going to return. Rodri was a great midfielder, and City will definitely miss him, but I am sensing that they are already working on a backup plan as we speak.
Readiness is one problem he has to overcome with respect to his mental condition because after such a bad injury it takes time and preparation to trust that knee again. But if he comes back, everybody will have in mind that it is difficult to simulate real game situations with a player after he is coming back from an injury like that. The biggest question will be whether the knee holds and if there is no relapse if you will. They can usually fix these injuries very well these days, but Rodri wouldn't be the first player to suffer from two injuries of the same type within a short period of time. It would be the worst case scenario for Rodri and the team.