Man City Could Replace the Irreplaceable with Deal for £50m ‘World-Class’ Star

Any ACL tear to a key player across the football pyramid is devastating to that team’s chances of success that season. But for Manchester City, Rodrihas arguably been their best player since his arrival five years ago, and him being ruled out for the 2024-25 season is one of the biggest losses of all.

A commanding figure in the midfield, the blue side of Manchester has recorded a 74.1 percent win rate in the Premier League with him in the line-up, a figure which drops to 61.9 percent when he is absent.

Now sitting a point behind league leaders Liverpool in second place with 17 points in the table, and struggling to win convincingly in the UEFA Champions League, currently in 8th place with a win and a draw in their first two outings, City are reportedly looking to bring in Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi in the January transfer window in an attempt to try and mitigate the loss of their star holding midfielder, as they seek to acclaim a fifth consecutive league title.

The reigning champions have been mooted as potential mid-season suitors by Revelo, who mention Zubimendi’s £50.3m release clause.

Zubimendi Could Be the Closest Thing to a Rodri Replacement

The Real Sociedad midfielder has shone so far in the 2024-25 season

Having taken a backseat to Rodri on the international stage for the majority of Euro 2024, Zubimendi – who is also still being targeted by Liverpool despite rejecting them last summer – was on hand to replace his compatriot in the final when the Man City midfielder was forced off with an injury at half-time, and was a staple in the heart of the Spanish midfield that came out victorious over England.

The now 25-year-old hails as an academy product from Real Sociedad, having also spent his entire senior career there, and was dubbed by Arsenal defender and former Sociedad teammate Kieran Tierney, as ‘world class’.

Last season, Zubimendi made 31 appearances in La Liga, and finished with four goals and an assist. But it was his passing that proved most impressive. Over the last year, he has averaged an 85.9 percent pass completion, while he also made 5.55 progressive passes per 90 minutes.

Rodri, on the other hand, made the most progressive passes in the Premier League last season, 376, while completing 91.5 percent of his passes and averaging 11.93 progressive passes per 90.

Based on these numbers alone, it is evident that Rodri is virtually irreplaceable, but with Zubimendi’s style of play – where he can reliably occupy the deep pivot and can dictate the tempo of the attacks going forward – he could be a very solid option, who could mitigate the Spaniard’s absence the most as City look to progress on this season.

However, there is also the debate about whether he will acclimatise to the pace of the Premier League, with Sociedad currently sitting in 15th place in La Liga. Though, on one of the biggest international stages of them all at Euro 2024, he completed 106 of his 112 passes for 97.5 percent passing accuracy, which somewhat counters that argument.

City Making Do for Now

Pep’s played around with formations using Gundogan and Kovacic

With the gaping hole in central midfield vacated by Rodri, City have been forced to play around with their squad formation in order to find a solution until they can make additions in the January window.

This has mainly seen both Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan being inserted into the starting lineup more regularly, having played together prior to Rodri’s injury, with the Croatian operating in more of a holding No. 6 role, and the German being deployed slightly further up the field.

When Rodri was forced off in their blockbuster fixture against Arsenal, it was Kovacic who was brought on, and in his 68 minutes of action, he registered five key passes and four shots in that game alone – by far his biggest production of the season thus far.

This move to bring him into the defensive midfield role also paid dividends in City’s last Premier League game before heading into the international break, with Kovacic finding the back of the net twice in a 3-2 comeback win over Fulham, which saw him given a 8.26 rating by WhoScored.

For Gundogan, his surprise return to City from Barcelona in the summer is a move which, in hindsight, could be viewed as a somewhat lucky one, with his ability to be successful in any midfield role in which he is deployed by Pep Guardiola, and racking up 60 goals in his first stint with the club.

So, even if City weren’t able to land Zubimendi in January, they would have options available to them, but a more natural replacement in that position is much more favourable, as well as some added depth in the midfield for the Cityzens, who will be relying on that in their aim of adding yet more trophies to the cabinet this season.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and WhoScored.com, and are accurate as of 08/10/2024.

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