'Massive loss' - Major injury blow & surgery officially confirmed ahead of Newcastle United v Man City clash

Rodri was forced off during City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal over the weekend with what turned out to be an ACL injury. Now the Spaniard is doubtful to play again this season.

A blow for Man City could come as a boost for their Premier League rivals, with Newcastle set to host the Premier League champions at St James’ Park on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off).

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Following Man City’s Carabao Cup win over Watford this week, head coach Pep Guardiola said: “Still we don’t have the definitive [diagnosis] but he will be out for a long time - a while.

"But there are some opinions that maybe it will be less than we expected.”

Rodri has been a mainstay in the Man City side since arriving from Atletico Madrid in 2019 and has been a key player in the three successive Premier League title wins while also scoring the winner in the 2023 Champions League final against Inter Milan.

The midfielder now requires surgery in what will be his first extended absence from the side since his arrival.

And Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson couldn’t play down the impact of Rodri’s injury to Man City this season.

“It's a massive, massive loss for over the season,” he said on Sky Sports. “If [Erling] Haaland got injured for a couple of weeks they could probably get by with that, this man knits everything together.

“For all the top draw players that they've got, he knits it all together. He's the main man in my opinion and is the one player in the whole world who gets into every team in the world. There's not one football team that he doesn't get into.

“I don't know another player in the world that we can say that about. He is a massive miss, he may not be missed over the next three, four, five, six games but as the season revolves and we get into the new year, he will be missed without a doubt.

“He gets important goals as well, we saw in the Champions League final, this man is a phenomenal footballer and that was the major blow for Man City the other day and for [Rodri] himself, he's a special player.”