Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says the club currently have a player who is simply ‘extraordinary’.
The chairman has sat down for his annual end-of-season interview with the club to reflect on the 2023/24 season, which resulted in a fourth straight Premier League title.
Manchester City edged out Arsenal on the final day of the campaign thanks to a 3-1 win over West Ham United.
It was the second time in a row that City held off Arsenal, who will be trying to work out this summer how to surpass their rivals.
But City will do their utmost to stop that from happening, and while Rodri is in the team there is a good chance City will remain on top.
It was yet another stellar campaign from the Spaniard – and he came in for high praise from Khaldoon in his interview…
Khaldoon says Rodri is ‘extraordinary’ despite not playing a glamorous position
Rodri was absolutely sensational in 2022/23 as City stormed to an historic Treble – and his standards did not drop in 2023/24.
The £63 million maestro was his usual dominant self in midfield, but he also showed a highly impressive new attacking side to his game.
Rodri scored a fantastic nine goals and laid on 14 assists, which are numbers that not even some good number 10s produce.
There is an acceptance for many now that Rodri is City’s most important player. And the star’s quality is not lost on Khaldoon, who said: “The standard of excellence is extraordinary. He is extraordinary!
“The position he plays is not glamorous but he is absolutely fundamental to Manchester City and one of the most critical reasons why we continue to win and succeed…”
What a phenomenal player
It is great to hear Khaldoon acknowledging the man who makes everything tick for City.
Somehow, it still feels as though Rodri doesn’t quite get his due credit. He is easily the best holding midfielder in the world at this point.
Not only does he dominate games from the base of midfield, but he also offers a really good offensive threat now.
The 27-year-old has shown exceptional performance levels over the past couple of years and the exciting thing is, he is only now just coming into his peak years.
Who knows what kind of level he could reach in the next few years.