Manchester City Welcome Rodri Back as Guardiola Proud of 2025 Efforts
Rodri is available for Manchester City's New Year’s Day match at Sunderland after recovering from a hamstring injury, having previously suffered a cruciate ligament injury in September 2024. Pep Guardiola has praised City as the best-performing Premier League team in 2025, expressing pride in how the team overcame difficulties last season. Manchester City currently hold the 2025 Premier League points-per-game lead, narrowly ahead of Arsenal who have played two more league matches, leaving a five-point gap with a game in hand.
The club invested £172 million in January 2025 signings, which contributed to their turnaround and strengthened the squad. Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth is close to joining City; he recently played in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea and contributed two goals via long throws. Guardiola emphasized that Rodri's return makes City stronger by deepening squad depth. Notably, City were 14 points off the top spot at this same point last year, highlighting the significant improvement they have made in 2025.
