Craig Burley has claimed that one Manchester City player is better than anyone else at one specific thing.
The latest Premier League campaign came to an end last weekend which saw City wrap up their sixth title in seven years by beating West Ham United 3-1.
With the Blues now the only side to have won four Premier League titles in a row, one pundit has heaped praise on one particular figure in the City squad who has played a significant role in the campaign.
Burley says Rodri plays a key role for City
Speaking in a recent video shared on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Burley had this to say after picking Rodri as his player of the year.
He said: “You’d have to put up a big argument to say who is better at linking the way the game is played these days.
“Which is from the goalkeeper taking risks in their own penalty area, almost all the clubs, to centre-backs, to full-backs and what that needs is midfielders that are going to come and link that up.
“Without that, it’s pointless playing around the penalty box and he links it up under pressure as good if not better than anybody and for that, I just think he’s a brilliant footballer.”
Rodri is one of the Premier League’s pass masters
Across the campaign, Rodri featured in 34 games in total, being an unused substitute in one and missing the other three through suspension.
Interestingly, the three games he was suspended for were the three matches City lost throughout the entire season.
In terms of his passing, as Burley mentioned, the £220k-a-week midfielder completed more passes (3365) than any other player in the entire division.
He also made more progressive passes (376) than any other player in the league, which shows that he isn’t just capable when it comes to receiving and moving the ball around the back line as Burley spoke about.