Crystal Palace have now made an approach to sign an “incredible” defender, who is being targeted as a replacement for Marc Guehi.

Palace working on replacement for Eze and Guehi

It has been a difficult summer for Palace on the transfer front, with talisman Eberechi Eze leaving to join Arsenal, but it appears as though they have already secured a replacement, with Fabrizio Romano dropping some exciting news on Tuesday evening.

That said, Palace may still have some work to do before the deadline, given that Marc Guehi’s future remains up in the air, with the captain still expected to join Liverpool, although Manchester City were also recently named as potential suitors.

There has been talk about Man City’s Manuel Akanji heading to Selhurst Park, but the Eagles have also now made an approach for more of a left-field target.

That is according to a report from Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), which states Crystal Palace have made an approach to sign Juventus defender Lloyd Kelly, who is being targeted as a replacement for Guehi.

He's like Eze & Wharton: Big-money star keen on moving to Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace could seal a sensational late move by signing this £42m star.

By
Kelan Sarson

Aug 25, 2025

Oliver Glasner’s side have lodged an enquiry over Kelly, alongside Premier League rivals Sunderland, and there is a feeling that a deal could be possible, with the Italian club currently working on a deal to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Beraldo as a replacement.

Having failed to adapt to life in Italy since making a £20m move from Newcastle United, the 26-year-old could well be on the move this summer, considering Beraldo joining Juventus is deemed ‘very possible’.

"Incredible" Kelly needs to leave Juventus this summer

It would be fair to say the Bristol-born defender failed to adapt to life in Italy last season, making just 12 Serie A appearances throughout the campaign, but he has proven himself in the Premier League in the past.

Indeed, the former AFC Bournemouth man was particularly impressive during his time with the Cherries, with ex-Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil once praising him for a solid display in a 1-0 win against Liverpool.

O’Neil said: “I thought Lloyd was incredible. I think he had a 12-week ankle injury followed by a six-week calf injury. Didn’t have much time in between, and then came back today having not trained much, to play left back against one of the best wingers in the world.

“I thought he showed everything, the potential he has to be a top defender.”

If Kelly is to fulfill that potential, however, he needs to receive consistent game time, so a move to Palace could suit all parties, although the Juventus defender clearly isn’t currently on Guehi’s level, given that he is yet to be capped by England.

This is also the third time Silva has secured the post uncontested, while the rest of his team has also been re-elected without contest

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2025

Shammi Silva has been elected president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for a fourth consecutive term. He will hold the position for a two-year period from 2025-2027.This is also the third time Silva has secured the post uncontested, while the rest of his team has also been re-elected without contest.Jayantha Dharmadasa and Ravin Wickramaratne have been re-elected to the post of vice-president, while Sujeewa Godaliyadda, Chryshantha Kapuwatte and Lasantha Wickremasinghe remain as treasurer, assistant secretary and assistant treasurer, respectively.Only secretary Mohan de Silva, who resigned in November 2023, does not return. His post has been taken up by Bandula Dissanayake, the only new face in the executive committee. Kapuwatta had been acting Secretary since de Silva’s resignation.The end of Silva’s term in 2027 will mark eight years in charge, an eventuality made possible by a recent change in Sri Lanka’s sports law that allowed for officials to hold posts for up to two consecutive four-year terms.The most notable facet of this year’s election is that it’s the first one to be held since last December’s change to SLC’s constitution which saw the voting body reduced from 147 down to 60.

MatériaMais Notícias

O meio-campo Arturo Vidal fez a sua estreia pelo Athletico neste domingo e ajudou o time a derrotar o Bahia por 2 a 0, no Campeonato Brasileiro.Como não poderia ser diferente, o Flamengo, sua ex-equipe, foi tema da entrevista e sobrou alfinetada ao técnico Jorge Sampaoli.

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– Me sinto muito feliz de jogar. Sempre estive preparado. Somente tive um treinador, um perdedor que não sabe apreciar os jogadores. Mas ficou para trás – afirmou à “TNT”. 

Durante a passagem de Vidal com Sampaoli no Flamengo, o volante chileno disputou apenas 12 jogos e nunca escondeu a sua insatisfação.

Agora no Furacão, a expectativa é que ele tenha mais espaço e atue de titular, algo raro na época de Fla.

West Ham United have just been handed a boost in their reported pursuit of former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo, as pressure also grows on under-fire Hammers boss Graham Potter.

Potter has made one of the worst starts to a new season by any Hammers boss in Premier League history, and only Avram Grant’s relegated Hammers team from the 2010/2011 season conceded more goals at this stage of the campaign.

Grant’s dismal West Ham are also the only Irons side to record a lower win percentage in the competition than Potter’s men — which makes for incredibly worrying reading.

Worst West Ham managers in the Premier League

Win percentage

9. Sam Allardyce

30.7%

10. Julen Lopetegui

30%

11. Gianfranco Zola

27.8%

12, Graham Potter

27.3%

13. Avram Grant

18.9%

via StatMuse

After the east Londoners lost all three of their opening matches in all competitions, the pressure was already on Potter, but an excellent 3-0 win over Nuno’s Forest at the City Ground actually restored some degree of faith that things could turn a corner.

That turned out to be Nuno’s final game in charge of Forest, despite guiding them back to Europe for the first time since 1995 last term, owing to a public fallout with controversial owner Evangelos Marinakis which ultimately cost the Portuguese his job.

Since then, West Ham have swiftly been brought right back down to Earth after the international break following a 3-0 slump at home to Tottenham in the London derby last Saturday, and Nuno could now replace Potter.

Reports suggest that West Ham chair David Sullivan is a fan of Nuno (Alan Nixon), and the fact he is readily available makes the prospect of his potential appointment a fairly doable one if they do decide to sack Potter.

Nuno Espírito Santo stance on next job as West Ham eye move

A lot will depend on Nuno’s wishes and his stance on joining West Ham, with journalist Neil Goulding sharing a significant boost for Sullivan in this regard.

According to Goulding, Nuno’s “priority” is to remain in the Premier League after leaving Forest, and he’s extremely keen to jump right back into management — which will suit West Ham down to the ground.

He’s apparently hungry for his next role as soon as possible, so West Ham may need to make a decision on Potter’s future fairly quickly.

West Ham should consider Nuno to replace Potter

West Ham’s next three league games against Crystal Palace, Everton and Arsenal will likely go a long way in determining Potter’s long-term future, but if they elect to part company, Nuno is arguably their best replacement choice.

José Mourinho is also a free agent, though his last job in England was a lacklustre spell at Tottenham, while Nuno made history by seriously overachieving at Forest last term on limited resources.

This arguably makes him a standout candidate, and Nuno is known for promoting defensive discipline in his setup — something which West Ham have lacked for a very long time.

He also significantly improved Forest’s set-piece weaknesses, which were a major achilles heel for them prior to his arrival, not to mention an aspect of play that West Ham have seriously struggled with under Potter.

Perhaps Nuno could be a David Moyes 2.0, with the potential to bring back serious solidarity to an otherwise very fragile side.

A superb 83 from Paige Scholfield, three wickets each from Grace Potts and Ryana MacDonald-Gay and some clutch tail-end batting guided England A to a thrilling final-over one-wicket win against Australia A in the third 50-over match in Sydney.Potts and MacDonald-Gay had been pivotal with the ball in restricting Australia A to just 195 but both were required to hold their nerve with the bat in the chase after Scholfield had put England A on the brink of a much-needed victory after they had lost the previous two 50-over matches in the series.Scholfield and Seren Smale had the chase under control at 152 for 4 following an 88-run stand after England A had initially slumped to 23 for 3 and 64 for 4 in pursuit of 196. Smale was run out by Sianna Ginger for 34 before Scholfield was bowled by Ella Hayward for 83 from 102 balls. Kirstie Gordon fell cheaply to leave England A needing 31 runs from 40 balls with only three wickets in hand.MacDonald-Gay struck two boundaries in a valuable 16 but fell with 14 still required. Potts joined Georgia Davis and the pair scratched out 13 of them but Davis was run out by Hayward trying for the winning run off the last ball of the 49th over. The run out completed an outstanding individual performance from Hayward who earlier made 76 from 92 and took 1 for 24 with two maidens from 10 overs.Ginger bowled the final over for Australia A needing one wicket for a tie. Potts held her nerve striking a boundary off the second ball of the final over to secure the win.Potts had earlier ripped through Australia A’s top order with a 10-over spell claiming 3 for 30 with a maiden and 44 dots. She had both in-form Australia A openers caught behind including claiming Georgia Voll for a second ball duck.Australia A No. 5 Charli Knott was also caught behind in Potts’ sixth over of her opening spell. MacDonald-Gay then added to their woes when she came on first change to trap captain Nicole Faltum lbw for a duck and leave the hosts in deep trouble at 29 for 5.But excellent half-centuries from Hayward and Courtney Webb rescued the innings. Webb made 53 from 80 with six boundaries in a century stand with Hayward who then added 48 with Hannah Darlington for the eighth wicket and 17 more with Sophie Day to drag the total up to something defendable. Darlington made 20 off 32 in another vital cameo following her unbeaten 26 from 14 in the previous match.The two teams will now prepare for a four-day red-ball match starting on Saturday to round out the multi-format series.

Wolverhampton Wanderers haven’t enjoyed the best of starts to the new Premier League campaign, having been thrashed by Manchester City before losing at Bournemouth by a one-goal margin, under the cosh for much of the contest.

Panic stations? Hardly. Wolves showed their quality and spirit when overcoming West Ham United in the midweek Carabao Cup clash, and have the chance to get their league season up and running when welcoming Everton to Molineux on Saturday.

One of the potential sticking points in mounting fluency and consistency over the coming months is the thought of losing goalscoring talisman Jørgen Strand Larsen, who is the subject of a flurry of bids from Newcastle United as the window winds down.

Strand Larsen's Wolves future

Wolves chairman Jeff Shi is adamant that Strand Larsen is going nowhere this summer, but the centre-forward has politely requested to join Newcastle United, who have seen three quick-succession bids – the latest of which worth £60m – rejected for the 25-year-old.

Having seen his loan spell made permanent this summer, you can understand the hierarchy’s stance, but every eventuality must be accounted for.

Wolves need to sign another striker, not least because Vitor Pereira lost Matheus Cunha to Manchester United a few months ago.

Well, according to Fabrizio Romano, Wolves have opened talks with Belgian club Genk for striker Tolu Arokodare, insinuating that pace is gathering on the Strand Larsen front, even if the Old Gold are maintaining their stance that the Norwegian is not for sale.

Valued at £25m, Fulham have also registered their interest in the Nigerian number nine this summer, but Wolves appear to hold the lead in the race at his late stage.

What Tolu Arokodare would bring to Wolves

Strand Larsen has played an important part for Wolves since joining from Celta Vigo last summer, scoring 14 goals as Pereira’s side staved off the threat of relegation that served as a backdrop to the campaign.

If he does end up leaving for St. James’ Park, Wolves would need an adequate replacement, and Arokodare has the skills to thrive in his stead, having scored 17 goals in 2024/25 to stand proud as the Juliper Pro League top scorer.

Genk manager Thorsten Fink was full of praise when discussing his marksman, hailing him as a “top striker” and drawing attention to his pace, power, height and two-footedness.

In that regard, the 24-year-old would appear a natural successor to Wolves’ current frontman, whose mobility and presence on the ball have allowed him to dovetail into Premier League life.

Hitherto a loanee in Germany and France, Arokodare has settled in Belgium, going from strength to strength. Across his 113 matches with Genk, who have won two of the past three league titles, the towering ace has scored 41 goals and has supplied 12 assists.

For sure, there’s more still to come. He’s not the most clinical, missing a slew of big chances across the recent season, but his thirst for success in the final third lends itself to a constant stream of goals.

With such a robust and focused style, he could easily replace Strand Larsen at Molineux, should push come to shove, having proven himself to be even more prolific than Wolves’ current marksman, across the last 365 days.

Goals

0.45

0.62

Assists

0.14

0.22

Shots taken

1.96

4.98

Touches (att pen)

3.78

8.73

Shot-creating actions

1.43

3.40

Pass completion

65.1%

74.9%

Progressive passes

1.01

1.32

Progressive carries

0.56

1.15

Successful take-ons

0.24

0.88

Aerial duels

2.41

4.41

Arokodare’s prowess as Genk’s striker comes with the caveat that he has, of course, been plying his trade at a different level than the Premier League, whereas Strand Larsen has leapt right into the ostensibly toughest division out there.

But still. There’s no denying that the rising goalscorer shares some interesting properties with Strand Larsen, and that Wolves could strike gold by sealing his signature in the coming days and turning a hefty profit on their current number nine.

Their new Dawson: Wolves in talks to sign "dominant" £30m star

Wolves could sign a Premier League defender.

ByWill Miller Aug 25, 2025

When Liverpool signed Luis Suarez from Dutch giants Ajax in January 2011, there was a general acceptance that a deal was possible because Europe’s leading clubs, of which Liverpool were not one in that former phase, were dissuaded by his conduct.

Suarez, now 38 and playing Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, will retire as one of the most decorated and greatest strikers of his generation. He will be remembered by many for his incredible goalscoring record and mesmeric movements and ability to blend with attacking teammates.

But he will also be remembered for his volatile and aggressive nature. Suarez plays with his heart on his sleeve, but not always in a sporting fashion. He is both bark and bite.

Even so, he was a superstar for Liverpool, and many others besides. Trumping him would take some doing at number nine, and for all their success under Jurgen Klopp and now Arne Slot, it is something the Reds have not achieved yet.

Well, not until this summer. Now, Liverpool may have not one but two new centre-forwards capable of emulating the Uruguayan’s Premier League legacy.

Liverpool's new strikers

Meet Liverpool’s new strikers. Hugo Ekitike has already familiarised himself with the Anfield crowd, scoring three goals and supplying an assist across his first three matches for the club.

Liverpool won a charged race for his signature, beating off a number of competitors, notably Newcastle United, to sign the French forward in a £69m deal, plus £10m in add-ons.

And he’s repaying the faith. Ekitike looks at home in the Premier League, leading the line. Still only 23, perhaps the most exciting part is that Ekitike has so much potential, and there’s little question that FSG have hit the jackpot, even given his lofty price tag.

Aleander Isak hardly needs an introduction. Liverpool signed Newcastle’s star striker in a British record £125m deal on transfer deadline day, ending a month of speculation that was as contentious as it was compelling.

The Sweden international scored 27 goals across all competitions in 2024/25 and won the Carabao Cup, scoring as Eddie Howe’s side beat Liverpool at Wembley.

Erling Haaland is the only player to have scored at a more clinical rate in the Premier League since Isak left Real Sociedad in Spain and joined Newcastle for £63m. Even Mohamed Salah, in all his brilliance, hasn’t provided the same frequency.

Erling Haaland

101

90 (0.89)

Mohamed Salah

112

68 (0.61)

Alexander Isak

86

54 (0.63)

Ollie Watkins

112

50 (0.45)

Chris Wood

96

39 (0.41)

Bryan Mbeumo

105

39 (0.37)

No doubt, Isak hopes to leave a legacy comparable to that of Suarez, and Ekitike will too. However, Liverpool’s new version of the South American star is actually another member of Slot’s squad.

Liverpool's new version of Suarez

Suarez was a maverick, a game-changer. Rarely has the Premier League seen such boundless quality in one man, and he almost single-handedly dragged Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool to the top-flight title in 2013/14, scoring 31 goals and assisting 13 more as he plied a campaign for the ages.

But he didn’t quite hit the ground running a few years earlier, when he joined from Ajax. Suarez scored off the bench on his Premier League debut, netting against Stoke City in a 2-0 win.

Then the goalscorer would go on to bag just once across his first eight starting appearances in the competition. The circumstances differ, but this curious fact could be applied to contextualise the slow start of Florian Wirtz.

Wirtz, 22, joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for a record-breaking £116m fee that was swiftly superseded by Isak. The attacking midfielder is one of the most talented footballers in the world and has earned acclaim for his performances in his German homeland.

Fleet feet and a sharp assist for Ekitike in the Community Shield issued a solemn warning to the rest of English football, but four games into the league campaign, the £195k-per-week talent has yet to break his duck.

Journalist Declan Carr conceded that the marquee arrival “has struggled since joining Liverpool”, but there is little reason for concern. As journalist Sam McGuire noted, he is a “statistical unicorn” – a “final third freak”.

Devastating in the Bundesliga and equally as mesmerising across his exploits in the Champions League, Wirtz has proven himself on every stage, and in spite of his relative struggles so far, data from Sofascore reveals that he is averaging two key passes per game for Liverpool, also winning 50% of his ground duels and completing 60% of his dribbles.

In a similar way, Suarez was always going to be a star on Merseyside. Perhaps he outgrew his reputation and potential, becoming one of the best to do it, but still, the forward just needed a bit of time to find his feet.

Suarez might not have made the fastest start in Premier League history, but he played and fought and won like a man possessed once he got going.

And Wirtz carries himself with the air of the footballing elite. You can see it when he takes a deft touch, scans and rolls his way through and into space. There’s a tenacity in his play and an undercurrent which is just waiting to erupt.

Has it been a disappointing start? Perhaps. Wirtz has not been bad, by any stretch, but those who expected him to set the English game aflame from the get-go would be forgiven, as he cost a significant sum, after all.

But Wirtz is young and adapting to a new league; Liverpool, let’s not forget, are adapting to a new system, and have emerged from a summer transfer window characterised by upheaval and change.

It is a matter of when, not if, and if Wirtz keeps on as he has been, he will soon find himself playing with all the gusto of Suarez in his Liverpool prime, and the plaudits will follow.

The new Rooney: Liverpool already sold Salah's heir in "world-class" talent

Liverpool have so much attacking quality but might come to regret selling this star.

ByAngus Sinclair Sep 13, 2025

It looked like an ideal game for Royals, first posting a 200-plus total and then almost all their bowlers combining for a comprehensive win

Karthik Krishnaswamy05-Apr-20251:25

Boucher: Archer’s pace and rhythm show he’s back

Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring runs. Jofra Archer continuing the rhythm he seemed to rediscover against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga coming into their own.All these things may have been on Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) wishlist coming into Saturday night’s match against Punjab Kings (PBKS). All three wishes were fulfilled, as RR consigned PBKS, playing their first home game of IPL 2025, to their first defeat of the season.Jaiswal and Riyan Parag provided the sparks at the start and finish for RR to become the first team to post a 200-plus IPL total in Mullanpur. With this only being the sixth IPL game at the venue, it wasn’t yet clear if 205 was a winning total, but only until Archer made his entrance.Six legal balls into their chase, PBKS were two down, with Archer finding movement at upwards of 145kph to take out Priyansh Arya and Shreyas Iyer. RR struck two more blows in the first seven overs, and PBKS were always playing catch-up thereafter, even when Nehal Wadhera and Glenn Maxwell added 88 for the fifth wicket.Theekshana and Hasaranga did their bit to stifle the partnership’s scoring rate, and then struck one after the other to remove both set batters. And that was that for PBKS; they only hit one boundary in the last 5.4 overs as RR wrapped up victory by 50 runs.Jaiswal and Samson lay the foundationJaiswal got off to a scratchy start, slashing and missing against the left-left new-ball pair of Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, who both found early swing. Jaiswal miscued a pull just beyond the reach of a backtracking mid-on, and scored just 12 off his first 14 balls.But perhaps all he needed, after starting his season with scores of 1, 29 and 4, was a bit of time in the middle and a bit of luck. The fourth over brought him back-to-back sixes off Jansen – a ramp over the keeper and a slog over midwicket – and he seemed to be up and running.Sanju Samson, captaining RR for the first time this season after a finger injury had restricted him to a batting-only Impact Player role thus far, began more fluently but had less of the strike early on. When RR ended their first wicketless powerplay of the season on 53 for 0, he was on 20 off 14 and Jaiswal on 32 off 22.2:28

Did the two teams read the pitch differently?

PBKS hit back with slower ballsFrom 40 for 0 after four overs, RR only scored 45 in their next six. The legspin of RR old boy Yuzvendra Chahal and the slower cutters of Lockie Ferguson and Marcus Stoinis had a lot to do with this, on a pitch that was just a touch grippy and two-paced.Samson fell in the 11th over trying to force the pace against Ferguson, and Jaiswal seemed to be getting stuck. But from 46 off 39, he found that elusive higher gear, crunching Chahal down the ground to bring up his fifty before slog-sweeping his next ball for six. He hit Stoinis for a six and a four in the next over – the 13th – before becoming Ferguson’s second victim, swinging too early at a well-disguised, stump-bound knuckleball.Parag breaks free after slow startParag, batting at No. 3, began much like Jaiswal had, struggling initially to get to grips with the surface. At one stage, after four successive dots against Arshdeep’s cutters, angling across the right-hander and turning further away, Parag was on 12 off 14 in the 16th over.Then he paused for breath, and took strike transformed, a batter able to hold his shape for a split-second longer. He hit the next two balls from Arshdeep for fours, and that began a hitting spree that brought him 31 off his last 11 balls at the crease. With Nitish Rana, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel contributing cameos as well, RR rushed past 200 in the final over. Stoinis, whose first two only went for 12, leaked 36 in his last two, which again told the tale of RR’s batters coming to grips with the conditions and finding a way to master them.Archer hits the bull’s eyeThe first ball Archer bowled could not have been bettered. Perfect length, rooting Impact Sub Priyansh Arya to the crease. Movement from leg to off, at 144.6kph. The left-handed Arya defended down the wrong line and the ball slid past his outside edge to flick the top of off.0:53

‘Wadhera a winner who wants to be in the tough situations’

None of this seemed to make any impact on Shreyas Iyer, though. The PBKS captain began in a manner befitting someone whose head coach had likened his previous innings to a purring Rolls Royce, stroking Archer for two fours through the covers in his first four legal balls at the crease. Then he got greedy, exposing all his stumps to try and make room for another off-side hit, and Archer burst a 148.6kph ball through him.RR stay in control despite Wadhera and MaxwellWickets kept falling even when Archer didn’t have the ball. Stoinis popped a return catch to Sandeep Sharma off a fairly innocuous seam-up delivery in the fourth over, and Prabhsimran Singh slog-swept Kumar Kartikeya to deep midwicket in the seventh. The required rate kept mounting too; PBKS needed 163 from 82 balls when Maxwell joined Wadhera.PBKS’ hopes began to stir when both batters hit sixes off Kartikeya in a 19-run tenth over, but Theekshana and Hasaranga immediately got to work, conceding just five and 12 – the latter an impressive recovery after Wadhera slog-swept the first ball of the over for six – in the 11th and 12th overs.But as Maxwell ramped and reverse-swatted Yudhvir Singh for a pair of fours in the 13th, Wadhera launched Hasaranga for a straight six to bring up a 33-ball fifty in the 14th, and then began the 15th with back-to-back fours off Theekshana, PBKS began to dream once again.Then the two Sri Lankan spinners brought their defensive skills to the fore again, asking the batters to try and fetch balls dangled wide of their hitting arcs. Maxwell sliced a catch to long-off at the end of the 15th over, and Wadhera slog-swept to deep midwicket at the start of the 16th. PBKS were six down and needed 75 off 29. It was never going to happen as they continued to lose wickets.

Pep Guardiola has delivered an injury update on Rodri after seeing the Spaniard forced out of Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Brentford. The Ballon d’Or winner has been handled with care this season, but he limped away from the clash in west London and is facing another spell on the sidelines – although the man himself remains upbeat.

ACL injury has seen Rodri's game time limited

City saw Rodri suffer knee ligament damage in September 2024, with that issue ruling him out of 53 games for club and country. After 236 days out of action, the Spain international returned to the field late in the 2024-25 campaign. He went on to represent Guardiola’s side at the FIFA Club World, but suffered another fitness setback there.

Rodri has made just 15 appearances since the start of last season, with a serious ACL problem meaning that his game time must be limited. Guardiola had hoped that a key part of his plans was over the worst of his injury issues, but keeping the 29-year-old fit is proving to be difficult.

AdvertisementGettyGuardiola update on Rodri's latest injury

Guardiola told Sky Sports of Rodri after facing questions about why the Golden Ball winner was withdrawn an hour into City’s 2-2 Champions League draw with Monaco: “I was right, no? You asked me why I don't play him 90 minutes all the time. The journalists always ask me why I substitute him. This is why we tried to be gentle and play [him] for 60-65 minutes.”

Guardiola added when asked about the nature of Rodri’s latest setback: "It's muscular. Of course I don't want to lose him [at all] because he is such an important player. We tried to take care of him, but it is what it is.”

Return date: When Rodri hopes to play again

Rodri hobbled out of City’s 1-0 victory over Brentford inside the opening 20 minutes. He was forced to take a seat on the turf early in the first half after it became clear that he was in no position to continue. He looked crestfallen when inviting medical staff onto the pitch. Rodri was able to walk off unaided, but was in some discomfort after clutching at the back of his leg. The fact that further knee problems appear to have been avoided does offer a crumb of comfort to Rodri and City.

The man himself told when asked why he had been forced to leave the action and when he could be seen again: “I'm good. I felt a little bit in the hamstring but it seems like it's not that much. The important thing was the victory. I stretched the leg a little bit, a bit like in the Euros final. I stretched a little bit but it's part of the process.

“I don't feel that I feel tired muscle wise, I feel fresh but the most important thing is it's not that big. It's part of the process. The good thing about this is you get out, you don't let the muscle stretch now. The good thing is the break so it will be even better in this sense to recover these days and hopefully I can be in the next game.”

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Getty ImagesRodri crucial to Guardiola's plans at Man City

Rodri will not link up with the Spain squad for their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria. He will remain in Manchester for treatment, with City set to return to action against Everton on October 18.

Guardiola has previously said of getting Rodri back up to full speed: “Rodri is an outstanding player, everyone knows it, maybe he struggled to understand it's not about six months or 12, the World Cup will be the best Rodri and next season will be the best Rodri, this year is how to handle it. One year he has been out. The body changes, the rhythm changes, it's a question of time, if he's healthy he will be back.”