Andrew, Lyon

Rodri refused to be drawn by a question about reports suggesting he had been offered a lucrative new contract by Manchester City. The 28-year-old last signed a contract extension, external with City in 2022, which runs to 2027.

The Independent reported that the Spain midfielder was a key target for Real Madrid,, external who are said to be monitoring the outcome of City's hearing into alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.

As a result of that heightened interest in the future of their midfield lynchpin, the Athletic reported on Tuesday that it was "little surprise" the Premier League champions were looking into offering Rodri an enhanced deal, external.

Image source, Getty Images

Erl, Manchester

BBC Sport reported the findings of a Fifpro 2024 Player Workload Monitoring study earlier this month. Here's a summary of Rodri's numbers from July 2023 to July 2024.

• Rodri was included in 72 matchday squads for club and country, making 66 appearances and totalling 6,107 minutes on the pitch
• Remarkably, 36 of those appearances werein back-to-back matches
• That left minimal recovery time and averaging an estimated 127.7 hours (5.3 days) between games throughout the entire season.
• Rodri played more than 550 minutes for Spain at Euro 2024, featuring in every game until coming off injured at half-time in the final

Image source, Fifpro

Image source, Fifpro

Ryan, Bristol

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

He wasn't asked the question but I wonder if Rodri would be willing to take a 25% pay-cut to allow his workload to be cut by 25%?

Or would he argue that because the games - in theory - were better, they would be worth more?

Mark Usher

Manchester City

A final word from Manchester City midfielder Rodri on reports that he had been offered a new contract, and what his thoughts were on the next two to four years of his career: "I have nothing much to say. I have three more years at City. When I sign the contracts I don't think of other teams, I just think of finishing. So yes, I have a contract with City and there is nothing else I can say."

Image source, EPA

Lawrence

Manchester City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on Inter Milan: "A historical team, incredible mentality. They are built to win every single game. They are created to win competitions. Last year, they won a lot, the mindset of the players was 'I'm able to do it' - quite similar to us.

"They have a good high-pressing, almost man to man. They defend with the typical mentality in Italy that they have to suffer.

"They're a strong team in set-pieces, have good qualities in the build-up. Good guys coming from the second line. I don't know if [Federico] Dimarco will be fit but every time he crosses arrive with four, five players in the box. [They're a] complete team."

Image source, Reuters

The new Champions League format features more games this season, while the Club World Cup will now take up far more space in the football calendar as next summer's edition in the USA has been expanded from seven teams to 32 teams.

What are your thoughts on the game's top players potentially going on strike over the issue? Let us know your views via the usual channels above.

Manchester City

Rodri on whether players would ever consider going on strike, if the number of games they are asked to play continues to increase: "Yes, I think we are close to that. It is easy to understand. In general, if you ask any player he will say the same. It is not like it is just the opinion of Rodri, or whoever. I think it is a general opinion of the players, and if it keeps this way, it will be a moment where we have no other option. Let's see. I don't know what is going to happen but it is something that worries us because we are the guys that suffer."

Image source, PA Media

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has laid bare the player welfare issue that he believes could lead to strike action.

Rodri won the Champions League in 2023 and Euro 2024 this summer.

He was given an extended break by manager Pep Guardiola and is yet to start a game in a season he knows may not end until the middle of July, when the expanded Club World Cup concludes, with the new campaign starting again a month later.

"Someone has to take care of us," he said.

"We are the main characters of this sport or business. Not everything is money or marketing, it is also the quality of the show."

World players' union Fifpro has already threatened legal action but it wasn't entirely clear if it was an empty threat or not.

When someone with Rodri's profile talks about it, the game's administrators need to start listening.

Manchester City

Image source, PA Media

Manchester City midfielder Rodri on taking a break after helping Spain to win Euro 2024: "It was great for my legs and great for me. I had one month off, and maybe a little bit extra for me to recover also. In general terms it was about two months. It's been great for me to stop a little bit and to prepare myself.

"Nowadays, it is even more important to do these kinds of things, rather than coming in early to do a pre-season. I think football is changing in that way.

"It helps me a lot to stop. I don't watch much football. Of course, when [City] started pre-season I watched them but I tried to disconnect as much as possible. The mental health in that sense was important - to free your mind and move on."

Manchester City

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City midfielder Rodri on what he thinks about being nominated for the Ballon d'Or as a midfielder: "I'm very happy for everything that happened to me over the last year, winning what we have won [with City] and last summer at the Euros with my country, it's just a dream.

"It's the consequences of working hard, the consistency and never giving up. Individual awards are just a consequence of the work and I really feel right now as if people are really recognising my work and trying to push me to win [the Ballon d'Or].

"To be honest, though, it's not something I think about. It would be a dream, of course, as I never thought that I could arrive to this moment but, on the other hand, once you arrive here you just want to let people say what they think and that's it.

"Yes, I know I play a different role than most players who are nominated for these trophies, but it also shows that football can be beautiful in different views. You can be beautiful playing as a midfielder, scoring goals or as a defender.

"We all know how football works, but I think there are lots of people who really appreciate the role of a midfielder, so let's see what happens."

Manchester City

Manchester City midfielder Rodri admitted to pouring over clips of his Champions League-winner, when he fired the only goal in the 2023 final against Inter Milan.

When asked how many times he had watched the game, he said: "The full game - maybe one or two - clips, probably thousands of times."

On watching the 2023 final with manager Pep Guardiola on Monday, as part of their preparation for Wednesday's tie: "We were analysing them because they have not changed much in the way they play. It was great to see it back.

"[Guardiola] told us it was the first time he watched the game. This is football. It was a great time, but things move on. We have other challenges and goals in our head. We need to move on and start as well as possible in this new competition."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City

More from Rodri on how mental strength becomes as more important factor than the quality of a player when they play so many games - from the end of a season into international football, then back into a new season: "Most of these situations you cover with mental strength - trying to be strong, trying to get the machine again rolling, by winning or performing well. The start of the season was great for us because the earlier you get in to this run, the easier it is to continue into the season. The key is trying to be as fit as possible and trying to make the focus on the mental health - to be strong in this moment."

Manchester City

Manchester City midfielder Rodri was asked what is the optimum number of games a player should be expected to play in a season: "From my experience I can tell you that 60 or 70 - no. Between 40 and 50 is the amount of games in which a player can perform at the highest level. After that you drop because it is impossible to sustain the physical level.

"This year we are maybe going to go until 70 or maybe 80. In my humble opinion, I think it is too much.

"Someone has to take care of us because we are the main characters of this, let's say, sport, or business, whatever you want to call it.

"Not everything is about money or marketing. It is about the quality of show. In my opinion, when I am not tired I perform better. If people want to see better football then we need to rest."

Manchester City

The best line from Rodri was on whether players will go on strike over the expanded football calendar. The Manchester City and Spain midfielder said: "I think we're close to that. It's the general opinion of the players, and if it keeps this way, we'll have no other option. I really think it's something that worries us. We are the guys who suffer."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland and how much better he can get: "If you examine the next 100 games and he scores 99 goals, for me, it's fine. Don't improve, don't improve. Score in the next 100 games, 99 goals, I will be more than delighted.

"I think the experience of playing game and game and game, they will improve, so it's difficult to improve if you don't play. He will be a better player, in a natural way."

On whether Haaland has hunger to improve: "The difference to last season, he feels better. He came from Dortmund with a lot of problems, muscular. He struggled a bit. So far [this season] he feels 'I'm clean, I feel good here and no problems', but what I said before with Kevin [de Bruyne], it's the same. Every three or four days it's game, game, game. I don't know in one, two or three months' time.

"I don't expect him every game to score three, two goals. At the moment it is going to happen. It is not a problem because I know the quality is there but I think the difference from last season he feels good, no problem. It's not just him, all the players have that feeling he can perform at his best."

On whether Haaland's numbers have surprised him: "A little bit, yeah."

Image source, Getty Images