Man City's Rodri returns to individual training

Ballon d'Or winner Rodri has returned to training at Manchester City.

The midfielder completed an individual on-pitch workout at the club's Etihad Campus on Friday.

Spain international Rodri, 28, has been out of action since September after suffering a serious knee injury, a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

In his absence, last season's champions have slipped 20 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League and been knocked out of the Champions League.

The club released footage on Friday that showed Rodri completing a series of drills on the first team's training pitches.

Manager Pep Guardiola has tried to play down hopes that Rodri could be set for a return to action soon.

Speaking recently, Guardiola said: "[The] most important [thing] for Rodri now is to recover well.

"It's going really well and he feels really good, but step by step we will see."

Simon Stone, chief football news reporter

The images of Rodri out on the first-team training pitches, running, turning and kicking the ball, will gladden the heart of every Manchester City fan.

Even the sun came out.

Manager Pep Guardiola has played down talk of an imminent return to action and evidently, there is a long way to go before Rodri actually plays a proper game again.

However, with nearly three months of the domestic season left, there has to be a chance Rodri will play some part – and that should mean he is available for the Club World Cup in the USA in June.

That is really important because Guardiola's squad will have next to no preparation time for the 2025-26 campaign and, as they have discovered this season, without Rodri, they are just not the same team.