Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, addressed the fitness status of Rodri and Phil Foden before their upcoming match against West Ham.
Guardiola has indicated that neither Rodri nor Foden is expected to participate in the West Ham game. Rodri, who suffered a hamstring injury during Spain’s European Championship final last month, has resumed group training this week. Although the 28-year-old midfielder will accompany the team to the London Stadium, Guardiola believes it’s unlikely he will play.
Foden, on the other hand, will definitely be absent from the match and may also miss upcoming England duties due to ongoing fitness issues. The recently named PFA Player of the Year was described as unwell when he missed the Ipswich game over the weekend. Guardiola mentioned on Friday that Foden felt discomfort following the game at Stamford Bridge last week.
The expectation is that Foden will return to action for City after the international break, as the team faces a busy schedule with fixtures against Brentford, Watford, and Arsenal within eight days in September. Guardiola emphasized the importance of having Foden fully fit, particularly for the Arsenal game.
“Hopefully, he will be ready after the international break,” Guardiola said. “He played 45 minutes against Chelsea and felt unwell afterward.
“We conducted tests; he is improving but still not at his best, so we prefer to give him time to recover fully and be prepared for the next set of matches.”
