Maresca Aims to Replace Rodri at Manchester City

Enzo Maresca has barely taken charge of his first Premier League game as Manchester City manager, and already he’s talking about replacing a giant.

Rodri is gone. Barcelona have their man, and City have a hole right at the heart of their empire.

The Spain midfielder ended a seven-year stay on Tuesday, walking away with a collection of medals that reads like a club museum inventory: four Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups, plus everything he has just swept up with his country. In 2024 alone, he won the Ballon d'Or, lifted the European Championship, then captained Spain to World Cup glory and took player of the tournament. City have not just lost a holding midfielder. They’ve lost the metronome of an era.

Maresca didn’t try to dress it up.

“I’ll try to find a new Rodri – it is what it is,” he told reporters on Saturday, on the eve of City’s league opener against Bournemouth. No grand declarations, no promises he can’t keep. Just the blunt reality of a club used to rebuilding on the fly.

He reminded everyone that Rodri himself arrived as a talent, not a finished legend.

“Rodri, before he arrived here, he didn't win the Ballon d'Or, he didn't win the Champions League, he didn't win the Club World Cup. Then he joined the club and then he achieved many important things.

“Now the target for us is to try to find the new Rodri.”

The challenge is obvious. You don’t simply slot in another player and expect the same control, the same calm under pressure, the same knack for appearing in exactly the right place when a game starts to tilt. But this is where City lean on their own history.

Maresca pointed straight at it.

“When David Silva was here, everyone was worried – Kevin (De Bruyne) arrived. When Sergio Aguero was here, everyone was worried – Erling (Haaland) arrived. When Fernandinho left, Rodri arrived. It's just about this.

“When they leave, you need to be good and recruit the next one.”

That is the City model in one line. Icons leave, the machine keeps moving. The fear is always there for supporters when a cornerstone walks away, but the club’s recruitment record gives Maresca the kind of backing most managers can only envy.

Rodri’s exit is part of a wider shake-up. This is not a summer of minor tweaks; it’s a reset. Key figures have gone, others may still follow, and the squad that walks out this weekend will not be the final version Maresca works with this season.

He expects more movement before the window shuts. He also knows the market’s games.

“We need to adapt and we don't want to keep players here that don't want to stay. The normal thing in transfer windows is that you have to wait because all the clubs try to keep players until the last week and then sell for more money,” he said.

“It's normal. I'm not worried about that. When the transfer window closes and we have all the squad there, for sure it will be different.”

Names such as Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez have already been dragged into the rumour swirl, but Maresca stayed calm, almost detached. For him, the real work starts once the window slams shut and the noise stops.

For now, City step into a new season without the man who defined their midfield. The trophies on Rodri’s CV won’t be replaced overnight. The question is simple, and Maresca has already framed it: they found the next De Bruyne, the next Haaland, the next Rodri once.

Can they really do it again?