Manchester City midfielder Rodri hopes to return to action before the end of the season.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner has been out of action since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal in September, with Pep Guardiola saying the injury would rule him out for the rest of the season.
City are in the midst of a crisis without their influential midfielder after failing to win any of their last six games, which is Guardiola’s worst run as a manager.
But the Spain international now says he hopes to return to help his team-mates before the campaign is over.
“My target is to come back this season. I don’t give up on this season, [but] I don’t want to make any mistakes. My target is six or seven months,” Rodri told The Rest Is Football podcast.
“I am doing much better than I thought. I am enjoying the rest, if it possible to say it that way.
“My feeling was, not like a crack, the knee was stable. I was confident it wasn’t too bad. But I have a positive mentality now and that’s it.
“The first month and a half was bad in terms of pain, I couldn’t walk, but now it is easier.”
The world’s best! 🩵
Welcome home, Rodri 🏆 pic.twitter.com/hawZck9355
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 23, 2024
The Premier League season finishes on May 25, eught days after the FA Cup final on May 17.
City’s season is set to continue into the summer with the controversial expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States, which runs between June 15 and July 13.
Rodri has been one of the key objectors to the proposals by FIFA due to welfare conerns, suggesting players could go on strike in protest of the increased workload shortly before he suffered his significant injury.
‘I cannot respect’ Ballon d’Or no-show
A rollercoaster few months for Rodri has seen him win Euro 2024 with Spain before his unfortunate injury, to then winning the Ballon d’Or.
“I have lived the best and worst part of my career with the Ballon d’Or and then injury, but it gives me oxygen to come back again in a good way,” he said.
“I can’t describe the emotion [of winning it]. In my generation [we] only see two guys winning the trophy [Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo].”
Rodri’s triumph was overshadowed the Real Madrid’s decision to boycott the awards ceremony in Paris, with the decision reportedly made after learning that forward Vinicius Junior did not win the Ballon d’Or.
“I cannot respect the decision,” Rodri said of Madrid’s no-show.
“In sport and in life, it’s important to win. But I think even more how to lose, and I say always the same – it was my moment, I didn’t want to speak about others.
“They didn’t want to be there – I want to be with my club, with my family, the people that were there and clapped me, and that was a fantastic moment.”
