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Former Premier League defender Bacary Sagna has named Manchester City star Rodri as the best player in the league ahead of Erling Haaland. The former Arsenal full-back lavished praise on the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner for his exceptional positional discipline and intelligence.
The Premier League has always been blessed with some of the best players in world football. Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah are widely considered among best players in the league right now.
However, Bacary Sagna has named Rodri as the best player in the English top flight right now. The former Manchester City full-back said, as quoted by TBR Football:
“It’s too difficult. Rodri, maybe. Okay, Rodri. If I have to pick one player, I would say Rodri. Why? Because [he] doesn’t need to add much."
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He added:
“He’s just respecting the game. Never loses position. Always on the right spot. He’s not fast, but he manages to outplay players using his body perfectly, he’s smart.”
Rodri is one of the seven players in the history of the English first division to have won the Ballon d'Or. In the Premier League era, only Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo won the most prestigious individual award in world football.
The Spanish midfielder missed almost the entire last season with an ACL injury which completely derailed Manchester City's season. He is finally getting his way back to fitness this season and Pep Guardiola's side are looking a lot improved on the pitch.
Rodri joined the Cityzens in 2019 and has made 272 appearances for the club scoring 26 times while producing 32 assists. He has won 11 trophies during his time at the Etihad, including the treble in 2022-23.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola opens up on the Premier League title race
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has opened up on the Premier League title race. He has insisted that both Arsenal and Liverpool are in the title race and accused pundits of making premature predictions.
Arsenal currently sits at the top of the Premier League table after eight games, with 19 points. The Cityzens are just three points behind Mikel Arteta's side while Liverpool are third with 15 points.
Despite Liverpool's struggles of late, Pep Guardiola has insisted that Liverpool are in the title race. He said, via Metro:
"Well, in the first two games, three games, yeah for sure we [City] are out. And Liverpool is already done, and now it looks like Liverpool is done. And I’ll tell you that they will be back. I’ve said many times, I know all the pundits, all the specialists or former players, they know everything that is going to happen after five games, I’m not able to do that."
He added:
"So, always I wait for 10, 15 games to know exactly what is going on. But I think obviously Liverpool and Arsenal are there, someone else will be there, hopefully we can be there."
Manchester City will be up against Aston Villa on Sunday, October 26 and will be looking to win their fourth consecutive league game.
