Why Manchester City transfer target Rodri is evidence of excellent recruitment strategy

Manchester City transfer target Rodri has told Atletico Madrid that he wants to leave the club to join the Premier League champions. A release clause of £62.5million is all City have to pay to get their man, but who is he? What does he do?

Rodri as the new Fernandinho (or Sergio Busquets)
Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, or Rodri for short (or Rodrigo according to Opta and WhoScored) is a Spanish international midfielder who turns 23 on the 23rd of June. A first choice for Diego Simeone, he made 37 appearances in all club competitions last season starting mostly as a midfielder in a central two for Atletico Madrid.

A tidy passer of the ball, Rodri had an 89.6 per cent passing accuracy in the opposition half in La Liga 2018/19, also creating 17 chances despite being a defensively-minded player. In terms of similar players, the most obvious comparison in the current City team is Fernandinho, though Rodri made 103 tackles (3.03 per game) compared to Fernandinho’s 57 (1.97 per game) suggesting he either does more off the ball or is required to win it back more often under his manager’s orders.

When weighted against Fernandinho’s Premier League statistics, it is clear there is room for Rodri to improve.

As a result of making more tackles, Rodri also concedes more fouls than Fernandinho, but in Pep Guardiola’s system the team would have far more possession than Atletico’s average of 49.3 per cent (City’s league average was 64 per cent) so this number should decrease. His passing and vision attributes should also increase when positioned at the core of City’s passing network.

Guardiola has always denied (or attempted to deflect away from) that he instructs players to commit tactical fouls but having a midfielder who has the physicality to do just that is important in the crucial holding role, particularly considering how many players City send forwards in attacking moves. Guardiola needs a midfielder who can get stuck in but, crucially, is able to move the ball quickly and accurately under pressure so that the ball never stops being passed at speed.

That is where Rodri would play. The two ‘8’ positions in City’s formation are required to drift, attack and create while the ‘6’ protects the defence, sets the passing tempo and links everything together in buildup.

Signing Rodri now gives Guardiola a perfect amount of time to help him learn the demands of the position in a very particular system and adjust to the physical nature of the league, all while using Fernandinho as an example of what is expected.

Rodri’s player profile from last season is similar to Sergio Busquets, the player who performed the ‘6’ role in Guardiola’s brilliant Barcelona teams.