Guardiola unsure when Rodri will return from injury

Midfielder Rodri will miss Saturday’s Premier League game against Everton because of injury and manager Pep Guardiola does not know when he will return.

Rodri, 29, said he “felt a little bit in the hamstring” after limping off just 22 minutes into the victory at Brentford before the international break.

The Spaniard won the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or – awarded to the best footballer of the year – but missed most of last season after sustaining a serious knee injury one month into the campaign.

He returned to action in the penultimate game of the season against Bournemouth and featured at the Club World Cup, but Guardiola said in August he had suffered an injury setback.

Rodri missed the opening game of this season against Wolves and though he has featured seven times for City in all competitions, Guardiola said the club have “tried to be gentle” with the player, who has completed 90 minutes just twice this term.

Guardiola joined City in 2016 and is approaching a decade at the club in which he has claimed six Premier League titles, the Champions League and two FA Cups.

He is also the English top-flight’s current longest serving manager, coming up against Everton boss David Moyes who has taken charge of more than 700 Premier League matches.

City are on a run of seven unbeaten games in all competitions and are aiming to put right the disappointment of last season, which saw them end a campaign without winning a major trophy for the first time in eight years.

“I still have the feeling that I have the energy to help the players make a better season than last season,” said Guardiola. “This is my target.

“I never sit here in November saying we’re going to win this or this. I don’t know what is going to happen against Everton, but before the international break we were far away from the top of the league and now we are closer.

“We want to arrive in competitions being close. That is the target I have and I see things that we are doing much better than last season, and every game we are better and better.