In May, Manchester City lifted a record fourth straight Premier League title under manager Pep Guardiola, and from the outside looking in, it was thanks in large part to Erling Haaland's 20 league goals. However, it's Rodri who has proven to be City's most important player since his arrival ahead of the 2019 season from La Liga giant Atlético Madrid.
The 28-year-old was brought to the Etihad Stadium for a reported fee of roughly $83 million to shore up the defensive midfield behind playmakers Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan, but it's no coincidence that City and Guardiola have gone on to win four straight league titles as well as one UEFA Champions League all with Rodri in the middle of the park.
Rodri has established himself as the best defensive midfielder in world soccer during his time in Manchester, suiting up 260 times for City with 26 goals and 30 assists to his name. The former Villareal player was on fire throughout the summer in the Euros before he picked up a hamstring injury in the final vs. England.
Rodri missed City's first three matches of the new season in the team's wins over Chelsea, Ipswich Town and West Ham United. He made his first appearance off the bench in City's 2–1 win over Brentford and started in the midweek Champions League bout vs. Inter Milan. Guardiola couldn't do without him vs. Arsenal, but he then suffered an ACL injury just 20 minutes into the match and was substituted off.
City is capable of winning without Rodri, but there's simply no replacing a player of Rodri's quality for the rest of the season in the Premier League, domestic cups and in Europe.
According to statistics from Opta, City has won 74.1% of its 174 Premier League matches with Rodri in the team. The team has accumulated 413 points with the midfielder in the side, picking up just under 2.4 points-per-match.
It's a different story when Rodri hasn't been available for selection, though. In 21 league matches without Rodri, City has won 61.9% of its league matches while collecting 40 points from 63 possible points. City's points-per-match drops from 2.37 down to 1.9 with the team negatively impacted by Rodri's absence. City's loss rate also jumps from 10.9% to 33.3% when Rodri isn't in the mix.
Not only has Rodri helped keep things in check on the defensive end, but he's also proven to be vital in City's build-up play. Rodri may be listed as a defensive midfielder, but he was involved in 8.4 attacking sequences per 90 minutes, whether a shot, chance created or a build up to a shot, per Opta—the most by any player in the Premier League last season.
It's safe to say that Rodri is a fairly important player in Guardiola's system. Just as he recovered from a hamstring injury after playing in 50 matches last season, he's hit with an even longer injury that could spell certain doom for City's hopes of winning a fifth straight Premier League title. Guardiola could look to rely on the likes of Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacić, but both players bring different qualities to the table that don't exactly hold up to Rodri's.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as These Stats Show Why Rodri Has Been Man City's Most Important Player.