You could measure the performance of Spain’s semi-final architect by the many ways the Spanish press chose to define it, in the aftermath.
He was, the AS newspaper said, el jefe (the boss): the player whose ability to close down the creative channels of what we had all hitherto taken to be a wonderfully expressive France side was the fundamental reason for Spain’s 2-0 win. Marca ruminated on the 30-year-old’s return to his Ballon d’Or levels of 2024.
To have been in the vast Dallas Stadium, witnessing what some in Spain consider to be the side’s greatest football performance of all time, surpassing even the 4-0 win over Italy in the Euro 2012 final, was to be reminded how work off the ball is just as significant as time on it, for the true midfield greats.
Rodri’s positional intelligence allowed him to escape France’s press, freeing the excellent Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz to play higher up.
Once Sunday’s final is done with – and Spain are going to take some beating – all roads lead back to Manchester City, where Rodri has a contract offer on the table. City are undergoing squad enhancements, as ever, with Elliot Anderson the latest big-ticket player incoming. But nothing can be as important in the club’s firmament as signing the Spaniard to a new contract – however much that takes.
There is no sense that contract talks are active as he enters the final 12 months of his deal. From January 1, he would be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs enabling him leave on a free next summer. Real Madrid have continually made eyes at him. He has spoken warmly of them, too.
Rodri looked back to his best as he ran the show for Spain in their World Cup semi-final win over France on Tuesday night
It is why Manchester City must move heaven and earth to keep their midfielder
City can contend that there has been uncertainty where he is concerned. After the ACL injury which took Rodri out of the 2024-25 campaign came the hamstring trouble of last autumn and Pep Guardiola cautioning this spring that he was ‘still not his best’.
Daily Mail Sport revealed two weeks ago that he will have surgery on an unspecified injury when Spain’s World Cup is done and miss the start of the new season – though the rehabilitation process is not expected to be lengthy.
But what we have witnessed throughout this tournament – and on Tuesday most of all – is a story of redemption. This player covered more than 12.5 kilometres against France while shielding the defence so effectively that France failed to register a shot on target in the first half and ended up with an xG of just 0.3.
What more evidence is needed that he can be the heartbeat of the team that Enzo Maresca is being asked to navigate through the post-Guardiola era?
And if you think he can’t maintain the intensity he showed in the semi-final week in, week out in the heat of the Premier League anymore, think again: he has covered more ground at this World Cup than anyone, 84km. Marc Cucurella is in second on 75km.
The ‘metronome’ of the semi-final, as Spain’s Sport title described Rodri, is also the leader whom Maresca desperately needs for the months ahead.
During the rehydration breaks, pauses in play and defensive breaks in the Dallas Stadium, he was the one directing and chivvying team-mates. With Alvaro Morata and Dani Carvajal, he has been the spiritual and tactical leader of Luis de la Fuente’s side.
Across the Spanish nation, talk is now turning to the historical standing of a player who is becoming as indispensable to this generation as Sergio Busquets was to the 2010 world champions. Though Lamine Yamal provides Spain’s brilliance, Rodri provides their certainty.
France could hardly get the ball off the Spanish midfielder, who has covered more ground than any other player at this World Cup
Talk in Spain is now turning to the historical standing of a player who is becoming as indispensable to this generation as Sergio Busquets was to the 2010 world champions
Will Guardiola’s departure loosen the ties that have bound Rodri to City for seven years? Quite possibly.
The allure of the Bernabeu will also be distinct for a proud Spaniard who, should Spain take the final step here, will receive vast acclaim as La Roja jet back into the capital. The fact that Rodri is a former Atletico Madrid player would not stop him taking the road to Real.
‘I know what the club wants,’ Guardiola said of the Rodri contract situation, before taking his own leave of City. ‘They informed me what they want from Rodri – it is to stay, stay, stay. I think he will. Always, I had the positive feeling with that but in the end I don’t know.’
What has unfolded here these past five weeks renders City’s work more urgent than ever. Rodri, more than anyone else, is the one who can recover them the Premier League title.
