Rodri’s recovery from back surgery is progressing well, with City increasingly confident he’ll be available for the Community Shield against Arsenal on 16 August.
He underwent successful surgery on 28 July to address a back issue he had been carrying for some time, having delayed the procedure to captain Spain to World Cup glory earlier in the summer. City described the operation as a success at the time but gave no firm timeline for his return.
Some reports in the days after the surgery suggested Rodri could be sidelined for several months, given the nature of the procedure. That more cautious outlook now appears to have been overly pessimistic, with his recovery described as shorter than initially feared and City still targeting the Arsenal clash as a realistic return point.
Rodri missed City’s pre-season tour of Asia as part of his rehabilitation, along with the rest of the squad’s World Cup contingent. He is expected to rejoin training in the coming days.
His recovery comes at a sensitive time for City, with his contract entering its final year and Real Madrid reportedly maintaining an interest. New head coach Enzo Maresca has previously played down the speculation, saying he wants Rodri available regardless of the noise around his future.
A swift return to fitness would be a timely boost, both for Maresca’s first competitive fixture in charge and for a player who has already had his last two seasons disrupted by injury, including the ACL rupture that ruled him out for most of 2024-25.
