Man City make two bold calls in UCL squad with Rodri in and new signing omitted
Manchester City have made the bold call to include Rodri in their Champions League squad despite his return date being unknown, while one of their January signings was omitted.
Rodri has been out injured since September, when he ruptured his ACL. At the time, it was suggested he would miss the entire season, but he is aiming to be back before the end of the campaign.
That is reflected in City’s squad announcement for the next phase of the Champions League, following the January transfer window closing.
City had three spaces to add to their European squads – they would have had four had they dropped Rodri from the initial squad, but they chose to keep him in it, highlighting their hopes that he’ll be back at the back end of the season.
Keith Wyness recently stated he does not believe City are simply being hopeful by having Rodri in the squad.
“Let’s see. I don’t think it’s wishful thinking, they wouldn’t make that sort of statement just to cheer him up,” he told Football Insider.
“Hopefully it can be good news for Rodri. We’re missing his quality in these games and it would be great if he could make an early return.”
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City also had to make one more tough decision in the Champions League squad.
They made four January signings: Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez, but could only add three of them to their squad.
As such, Reis has been omitted, with the other three getting a space. Reis has sat on the bench for two City games since signing, but is yet to make it onto the pitch.
Marmoush and Khusanov have both started at least one, and there have been no games played since Gonzalez arrived, but given the age of City’s current midfield options, it’s likely he has a big role to play.
Guardiola has stated hinted at that: “Really important! It’s a position where we were weak after the absence from Rodri,” he said.
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