In top shape after cruciate ligament tear
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With a market value of 65 million euros, European champion and world footballer Rodri is one of the five most valuable professionals with a contract expiring in 2027, alongside Harry Kane. The defensive midfielder extended his current working paper in the summer of 2022 and is expected to earn around 14 million euros gross per season since then. At “Onda CeroThe Spaniard talks about his torn cruciate ligament, which cost him over 50 games, Real Madrid and his goals at the 2026 World Cup.
“If I had had to choose a time when it would happen, I might have chosen exactly that (…) It was good for me to rest, to wind down. Mentally it was a strain. It allowed me to recharge my batteries and come back with enormous motivation (…) This season I have fewer playing minutes and arrive much fresher,” explains the 29-year-old. At the start of the 2024/25 season, the triple winner and newly crowned European champion was seriously injured and missed Man City and Spain in 56 games due to the cruciate ligament tear.
Since his comeback at the Club World Cup, he has slowly been approaching his top form, but had to take another break from October to December 2025. “I decided to take my time, take a break and prepare well because I knew that the crucial phase of the season would begin in January. Things are going well at the moment (…) I have the feeling that I’m back to being the Rodri we want to see.” Rodri has been a regular again since the turn of the year.
Man City’s Rodri on World Cup 2026: “We will win”
In Spain, Atlético Madrid’s homegrown player, who moved from Rojiblancos to Manchester for 70 million euros in 2019, is being traded as a possible newcomer to Real Madrid. “I still have one year left on my contract, at some point we will have to sit down and talk.” He doesn’t want to rule out a transfer to the Royals: “You can’t do without the best clubs in the world.”
Rodri can still win four titles this season: three with Man City and one with Spain. In the Premier League the gap to Arsenal is nine points – that will be difficult, in the Champions League Man City failed against Real Madrid, they won the EFL Cup against Arsenal, and in the FA Cup Liverpool are waiting in the quarter-finals. The six-man team expects to have great opportunities in the USA, Canada and Mexico: “We will win,” says Rodri and praises national coach Luis de la Fuente.
Spain will travel to the World Cup this summer as one of the big favorites. “We will win,” says Rodri, who also praises Luis de la Fuente – a coach who has led Spain back among the best teams in the world. “Since he arrived, we have had a clear objective: to live every game like a final. We have shown our potential step by step. The key is a team that is constantly improving and developing (…) I am convinced that Spain will be at the top.”
Rodri could then form a double-six alongside Arsenal’s Martín Zubimendi. “Spain has already won a World Cup with two defensive midfielders. De la Fuente’s strength lies in being able to combine many players.” A reference to 2010, when the Spaniards won the World Cup with Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets.
