Pep Guardiola must now give extra attention to Manchester City’s sensational midfield. While Kevin De Bruyne sat out nursing a groin injury in the Arsenal match, ace defensive midfielder Rodri tore his cruciate ligament and left the pitch. And De Bruyne, meanwhile, also missed City’s EFL Cup tie against Watford. Now, the Sky Blues are a couple of days away from playing Newcastle United on the road and KDB’s return is widely expected among the club’s faithful.

Rodri has been having a bittersweet year lately. He was subject to many abrasive tackles and injuries never ceased to trouble him. When he was well, he won the Premier League with City and won the UEFA Euro with Spain. Now, however, the curtain seems to have fallen on Rodri’s season as his torn ACL won’t be a quick fix.

Latest on Kevin De Bruyne’s availability for Manchester City vs Newcastle United

Kevin De Bruyne went down before half-time during Manchester City’s UCL group game against Inter Milan. The Belgian hurt his groin and forced Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, and others to take charge of the City midfield in his absence. It seems like City midfielders have to probably thrive again in the 33-year-old’s absence. Pep Guardiola is uncertain if KDB will feature in Friday’s match against the Magpies.

“I don’t know. Yesterday (Monday) he didn’t train, today (Tuesday) I didn’t see him. So I don’t know,” said Pep Guardiola, referring to De Bruyne, in a recent presser. So, KDB’s feature in the Newcastle tie will indeed be a game-time decision for the Spanish coach. However, there is also a slight chance that the Belgian star would come off the bench. And it would be deja vu. He resumed action earlier this year by coming off the bench against the Magpies and he secured an assist. To sum up, the former Chelsea midfielder won’t be out for long.

But that won’t be the case for Rodri. And here’s how the Spaniard has started his healing process.

What’s going on with Rodri, as the remaining season looks bleak for the Euro winner

“He will be out for a long time – a while,” said Pep Guardiola, referring to Rodri after the Arsenal game. The Manchester City entourage are yet to learn fully about the Spanish center’s injury diagnosis. Meanwhile, the Euro winner traveled back home to Spain to get more tests done. “The midfielder travelled to Spain to seek specialist consultation this week, following initial tests in Manchester. Assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the injury and expected prognosis,” Manchester City said in a statement.

Guardiola said that the 28-year-old has been irreplaceable at the City midfield. The Sky Blues have not lost 48 games in the Premier League in which Rodri had started. So if this isn’t a major knock on the Cityzens’ 24-25 PL campaign, we don’t know what else is. Speaking of the Manchester side’s campaign, they have been off to a strong and undefeated start. But with such big bumps in their midfield, Guardiola and Co. won’t have it easy against bigshot PL clubs such as the Magpies.