Man City dealt another Rodri injury blow as Pep Guardiola confirms Ballon d'Or winner won't be fully fit until September

The midfielder battled back from an ACL injury to play at the Club World Cup but Guardiola has now confirmed the Spain international has suffered another setback and isn't expected to be fully fit again until September.

Without Rodri available, City struggled throughout the 2024-25 campaign, ultimately finishing third and failing to win a trophy in a remarkably low-key season by their immense standards. Now, they face beginning the season without him once more.

Guardiola told reporters: "Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al Hilal. He has trained better in the last few days, hopefully after the international break is when he will be really fit.

"Hopefully in these games he can play some minutes but what is important is he doesn't have pain because we don't want this Rodri coming back injured.

"We try desperately to avoid that. He has been training the last two sessions with us and that's good."

City play Wolves in their first game of the season next weekend. Tijjani Reijnders is likely to play, with Rodri in the treatment room.