Enzo Maresca's first press conference as Manchester City boss was less about system talk than reassurance. Rodri will have minor back surgery on Monday, then recover, and Maresca says the midfielder will be back at City despite the Real Madrid noise around him.

Maresca's message on Rodri

The clearest line came in Maresca's own words. Speaking to the Independent, he said: "I think every manager wants to have Rodri because he is a top player. But now, surgery on Monday. He needs a holiday, he needs to rest and recover and then he will be back with us."

That was repeated again in the Mirror: "Every manager wants to have Rodri, but now surgery. He needs to rest and recover, and then he will be back here with us."

This is the practical issue first. Rodri is expected to miss the start of the Premier League season while he recovers, and he has less than 12 months remaining on his Manchester City contract. The transfer chatter is there, but Maresca's public line was plain enough, City expect him back after surgery, not out the door.

The wider City picture

Maresca was also speaking in his first press conference as City boss, and he used it to frame the job in the shadow of Pep Guardiola. He called Guardiola the best coach in the world in the last 20-25 years and said City have had three managers in 17 years, which is not normal.

The scale of what he is inheriting is not hard to see. Manchester City finished 2nd in the Premier League on 78 points, while Guardiola's decade delivered 20 trophies. That is the standard Maresca is being asked to preserve, even if the Rodri issue is the immediate headline.

Real Madrid also finished 2nd in La Liga on 86 points, so the speculation sits in an awkward place. It is not a rescue mission, and it is not a completed story either. Maresca's comments were clearly aimed at cooling the exit talk and keeping the focus on recovery.

Rodri made 8 appearances at the 2026 World Cup and played 745 minutes, which underlines why City are treating him as a major piece rather than a throwaway name in transfer noise. His next concrete step is surgery on Monday, then the recovery period before any return to the squad.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →