Rodri hopes Guardiola’s guidance will help him develop into the new Busquets
Rodri watched Pep Guardiola turn Sergio Busquets into one of the world’s greatest defensive midfielders and is now hoping the Manchester City manager can do the same for him.
City paraded their record £62.8million signing from Atletico Madrid before supporters last night as Guardiola’s 18-month search for a long-term successor to Fernandinho finally drew to a close.
Rodri has been touted as Spain’s heir apparent to Busquets and, having seen the way his compatriot developed under Guardiola at Barcelona, the 23-year-old believes the City manager’s Midas touch can work for him.
Speaking in fluent English, a consequence of several summers spent in the United States, where his older brother studied, Rodri said: “I think he [Busquets] has been the greatest defensive midfielder in the last 10 years, not only in Barcelona, especially in the Spain team.
“For me, he is a mirror. I didn’t see Pep [as a player] but I saw him [Busquets] when he started eight or 10 years ago. Of course, I am very close to him [as a player] but I want to be my own player. Of course, I’ve learned from him and I want to learn here from Fernandinho and the other guys in my position.
“That [Guardiola’s improvement of Busquets and Fernandinho] is a very important fact. That is one of the things I like most about this coach. They told me in the national team, and Sergio told me, that he [Guardiola] likes improving you all the time. He doesn’t ever stop, he wants you to be better all the time, so for me it is very important. It is one of the reasons I came here.”
Rodri, who has signed a five-year contract, believes City have become England’s biggest draw and are, with Liverpool, one of the best two or three teams in the world.
“Maybe they change the story,” he said when asked why the best players are now choosing City over Manchester United. “I think City in this last five or six years has changed the story of the football here, in the whole of England.
“I love Manchester, I talk with some guys and I think it is becoming more blue. City have achieved a lot and what they have won in England is fantastic. I think they are a small step away from reproducing that in Europe.”