Rodri's Future at Manchester City: Who Will Replace Him?
Enzo Maresca has barely had time to put his coat on the peg at Manchester City and already the first defining call of his reign is looming into view.
Rodri, the metronome of City's greatest era, could be on his way out.
The 30-year-old is in the final year of his contract, Barcelona have already seen a £38.5m offer knocked back after Real Madrid also circled, and interest from Spain is not going away. After seven seasons in Manchester, the prospect of a return home now feels very real.
For Maresca, it would be a brutal early test. Lose Rodri and you don't just lose a midfielder. You lose a World Cup-winning captain, a Ballon d'Or winner, the anchor of a Treble and the heartbeat of a dressing room.
Injury briefly dimmed his dominance – that anterior cruciate ligament problem checked his momentum after the Treble in 2023 and Spain’s Euros triumph in 2024 – but the dip never lasted. Rodri flickered back into form for City last season, then roared into his old self as he captained Spain to World Cup glory in the summer.
His stock has never been higher. His potential departure would tear a sizeable hole straight through the middle of Maresca’s new project.
So who steps into those boots?
Azzedine Bouaddi – the teenage conductor
- Age: 18
- Country: Morocco
- Club: Lille
The Bouaddi noise has been constant all summer. City have held talks with the Lille midfielder and know the price: around £85m for an 18-year-old who already plays like he owns the centre circle.
Crucially, he wants the move. That matters.
Bouaddi’s rise has been rapid. A starring role in Lille’s Champions League win over Real Madrid in 2024 pushed him into the spotlight, and he backed it up with an impressive World Cup campaign for Morocco this summer. The stage never seemed too big.
On the pitch, the comparison is obvious. He operates as a deep-lying conductor, dictating tempo from the base of midfield in a way that echoes Rodri’s style. He doesn’t just sit and screen; he organises, he angles the game, he sets the rhythm.
He would dovetail neatly with Elliot Anderson, City’s £116m summer signing, whose game is more about driving into space and breaking lines from box to box. With Bernardo Silva gone, Maresca is not simply replacing Rodri – he is rebuilding the entire shape of his midfield.
Bouaddi, with 30 Ligue 1 appearances last season, already carries a level of senior experience that belies his age. The question is not whether he fits the idea. It’s whether City are ready to hand the keys of their midfield to an 18-year-old.
Enzo Fernandez – the trusted lieutenant
- Age: 25
- Country: Argentina
- Club: Chelsea
If Bouaddi is the bold, long-term play, Enzo Fernandez is the manager’s comfort zone.
City’s interest is strong and clear. Maresca knows Fernandez inside out from their time together at Chelsea, where he trusted the Argentine enough to hand him the armband whenever Reece James was absent. That was no small gesture. It told you exactly how Maresca sees him: not just as a technician, but as a leader.
There is a problem, though. Chelsea’s valuation sits at £120m, and they are expected to hold that line. For a club that has already laid out £116m on Anderson, it is a serious decision.
From Maresca’s point of view, the football case is compelling. No player made more Premier League appearances for him at Chelsea than Fernandez. His game is proactive: he drives into the box, looks for forward runs, and constantly pushes play into dangerous areas.
His numbers from last season underline that influence. Fifteen goals and seven assists in 54 Chelsea appearances, and among this group of targets he leads the way for successful passes, passes into the box and completed balls into the final third. He moves the ball with purpose, not just for possession’s sake.
Fernandez has only just returned to Chelsea training after helping Argentina reach the World Cup final, a showpiece that ended in defeat to Spain and a red card for the midfielder. Off the pitch, his situation is on a tight timetable. Chelsea have set a 17:00 BST Friday deadline for any bids, wanting clarity before the season begins.
Publicly, the message from Stamford Bridge is firm: they are prepared to fully reintegrate him and still see him as a key part of their plans. If City want him, they will have to punch hard, and punch fast.
Alex Scott – the Premier League climber
- Age: 22
- Country: England
- Club: Bournemouth
Alex Scott is the wildcard – less proven at the very top level than Fernandez, less hyped globally than Bouaddi, but right in the sweet spot of Maresca’s footballing ideals.
City have already explored a move for the Bournemouth midfielder. Scott has turned down new contract offers from the Cherries as interest from the Premier League’s elite has grown, but his current deal runs until 2028 and Bournemouth are in no mood to fold.
They have made that plain. Chelsea saw a £64m bid rejected last month and were warned off coming back. Arsenal’s advances have been knocked back too. Bournemouth want to keep him, and they are acting like it.
You can see why. Scott’s energy, his ability to carry the ball through the thirds and his comfort in a possession-heavy system all align with how Maresca wants City to play. He can punch passes into the box, he competes aggressively in duels, and he offers a blend of industry and invention that is hard to find.
He would not be a like-for-like Rodri replacement. He is a different profile, more dynamic, less of a pure anchor. But in a reshaped City midfield, with structure built around him, Scott could be the player who drives the press and breaks lines from within the system Maresca is trying to impose.
Rodri’s future will dictate everything. Keep him, and these names become options to complement and evolve a dominant midfield. Lose him, and one of Bouaddi, Fernandez or Scott may be asked to step straight into the void left by one of the most influential players of City’s modern era.
For a manager only six weeks into the job, Maresca might soon be making a decision that defines not just his first season, but the next generation of Manchester City’s midfield.
