LONDON: Manchester City will be without Rodri for the start of their Premier League title defense after Pep Guardiola revealed the Spain midfielder has been ruled out of Sunday鈥檚 opener against Chelsea.
The influential 28-year-old has only just returned to training after being forced off at half-time during Spain鈥檚 2-1 win against England in last month鈥檚 Euro 2024 final.
While England trio Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker hope to feature at Stamford Bridge after their post-Euros break, Rodri has not been cleared to return to action.
Asked on Friday if Rodri could be involved against Chelsea, Guardiola told reporters: 鈥淣o chance.
鈥淗e is in training. I don鈥檛 know, I haven鈥檛 seen him yet. He feels good. We鈥檒l have to see how he feels after training.鈥�
Rodri鈥檚 absence is an early blow to City鈥檚 bid to win a fifth successive Premier League title.
City would love to make a strong start to their title defense in west London, but Guardiola admitted fitness issues could hamper them on the opening weekend.
Foden, Stones and Walker are not fully fit after only returning to training in midweek following their holidays.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure they won鈥檛 be ready for 90 minutes, maybe yes, maybe 15 minutes,鈥� Guardiola said.
鈥淭he important thing is everybody is back and except for Oscar (Bobb) the rest are OK.鈥�
Bobb will have surgery on Friday to repair a fractured bone in his leg following a non-contact training ground incident on Wednesday.
Guardiola expects the young Norway winger to be sidelined for up to four months.
鈥淯nfortunately, he had a big impact and got injured,鈥� Guardiola said. 鈥淗e is having surgery this afternoon.
鈥淗opefully, it will go well and he will be back in three or four months. We are so sad for him.鈥�
Bobb鈥檚 setback follows the recent departure of Argentina forward Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid and Guardiola said he could be forced into the transfer market for replacements.
鈥淢aybe or maybe not, we will see,鈥� the Spaniard said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really pleased with the squad I have, we will see. I鈥檓 set.
鈥淲e will see what happens in the market. We can continue to January in that way or maybe we will add some players.鈥�