Man City's midfield options prove Rodri is replaceable after all

In the battle of expensive midfield makeovers, Manchester City's trio look the most complete, with Ayyoub Bouaddi the latest newcomer to impress Enzo Maresca; Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez have also made excellent starts in the wake of Rodri's exit

By Enzo Maresca's own admission, Manchester City "complicated" their 2-0 win over Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday. The patchiness of their performance led Alan Shearer to call Maresca's side "weak" on Prime Video's co-commentary.

City did fail to consolidate their advantage until late on, but never really looked in danger of squandering it. Statistically, Porto were restricted to scraps. For a team who had not been beaten at the Estadio do Dragao throughout the whole of 2026, there were few clear-cut chances to speak of. Not a single shot on target.

The danger here is of course to compare what City are serving up under Maresca with performances of the past, where everything flowed simultaneously around Rodri in the style of Pep Guardiola. The football so neat and tidy, with every pass in its precise place, it's difficult to pick fault. But that reality has passed.

There remains no rush about Maresca or the implementation of his philosophy. "Slowly, slowly," he urged on Tuesday, keenly aware that most expected Guardiola's departure to shift the balance of power in Manchester. They might well be disappointed.

Beyond surface level, the Porto win offered plenty of reason to believe Man City are building. Away victories in the Champions League should not be sniffed at, much less with a clean sheet attached.

But the individual display of Ayyoub Bouaddi should perhaps be highlighted as the biggest win. Erling Haaland might argue his match-winning double deserved some column inches, but such is the frequency, certain instances can afford to be glossed over in favour of someone else. This is one of them.

Haaland's most perceptive take actually happened post-match. "I told the chairman [Khaldoon Al Mubarak], we've got a gem there," he said of Bouaddi's influence in Porto. "He did a really good game. He's been amazing in training."

The £86m summer signing from Lille possesses a unique brand of confidence for a player still lodged in his teenage years. Not arrogant or showy, just calm and measured. His first Man City start revealed him to be a very accomplished act indeed, with plenty of Rodri-like mannerisms.

"He was never in panic... the performance from him was unbelievable," beamed Maresca on Prime Video.

Bouaddi has obvious belief in his own technical ability. The shimmies and feints to change direction in possession were evidence of that. He has a controlled tempo about his passing. And he's won the early trust of team-mates, too, who were unbothered about giving him the ball under pressure. Rayan Cherki used him as the bounce player all night.

No higher compliment can be paid than highlighting his passing accuracy as being just as judicious as the previous occupier of this role at City. Rodri was pulling the strings for Barcelona in a 5-1 win over Feyenoord 24 hours later, boasting a passing accuracy of 96 per cent.