There are two positions in the Manchester City team that feel like the hardest in world football to fill. Back up for Rodri, back up for Ederson.
City know they can’t just have anyone there. The post-Fernandinho era has seen Kalvin Phillips come and go within 18 months and Pep Guardiola now not really owning a proper defensive midfielder as a deputy to the champions’ fulcrum.
It’s why Rodri always appears exhausted, telling the club last summer that he simply cannot play the 56 games he managed during the Treble campaign for fear of doing lasting damage to his fitness.