Manchester City have confirmed that influential midfielder Rodri has returned to the grass as he steps up his recovery from a anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
The 28-year-old has been out since September after suffering the injury in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal. He quickly underwent surgery and started the road to recovery.
Rodri has been a key player for City over the last few seasons. His absence has coincided with a relatively poor season so far for Pep Guardiola’s team, who currently sit in fourth place in the Premier League table.
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Ahead of the FA Cup fifth round clash against Championship side Plymouth Argyle, City have provided the latest on the Ballon d’Or winner. The club released footage on their social media channels on Friday showing the player back out on the grass and completing individual drills. Alongside the video, the caption read: “On the road to recovery.”
In his most recent update on the player, Guardiola seemed to play down the possibility of him returning to action soon. [The] most important [thing] for Rodri now is to recover well,” he said.
"It's going really well and he feels really good, but step by step we will see."
Rodri himself has recently gave an update on his recovery. "Well, I always say, it's part of life. Injuries, athletes are used to these kind of things,” he said.
"But I'm a very positive guy in the sense that I take it what it is. I always thank God for everything and in these kind of moments try and be positive. And maybe do other stuff that I'm not used to doing, like coming here, spending more time with your family and why not try to improve other parts of your body, work on that and come back stronger."