Pep Guardiola: Rodri said he had lots of pain in his knee, he cannot play

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued further details concerning the ongoing fitness worries around Rodri and the latest on Savinho’s future.

The latest comments from the boss come after an eventually comfortable 5-1 win over Scott Parker’s Burnley on Saturday afternoon, as City continue their fine form following the September international break.

On Rodri’s fitness concerns: “Rodri, yesterday [in] training, he said, ‘I’m not able to play. I have a lot of pain in my knee, I cannot play, I cannot play’. And I said, ‘You cannot play? You don’t play. So, another one is going to play’. I don’t know yet, I don’t know. (Is it the same knee that he injured?) Yeah.”

On whether he has ever come across anyone as prolific as Erling Haaland: “[Lionel] Messi, Cristiano [Ronaldo], right? In terms of goals, yeah [he should be compared to them].

“At his age, maybe the numbers are better, but yeah, in terms of goals; him, Harry Kane, [Robert] Lewandowski, maybe, you know, these kind of guys. But it’s two months, [and] Messi and Cristiano have been doing [it for] 15, 20 years, every season.

“But Erling is still young, and yeah, he’s at that level. In terms of goals, he’s at that level.”

On Savinho’s long-term future: “Yeah [he’s going to sign a new long-term Manchester City contract]. Yeah, we were so clear that we wanted to keep him. It depends on the offer, maybe the offer was not good enough for the club, I don’t know.

“But of course, at his age, last season he played a lot of minutes, can play on both sides, right and left, has a pace that is unbelievable. So in those terms, he’s really good.”

On Nico O’Reilly’s new Manchester City contract: “Yeah, it happened, and Rico Lewis, Nico O’Reilly, and Savino I think is close, and in the past Ruben [Dias] had done it as well.

“So the club will try to, you know, I’m pretty sure they will try to, the players like we want him, do the effort that we need to stay here longer. And I’m really pleased. Nico is growing a lot, and I think since he started to play we lost just one game; the final of the FA Cup against Crystal Palace.

“Always has been involved. We were in defeat all the time, so Nico helped us a lot, improved a lot in his aggressivity, and in set pieces, and with the ball, and yeah, we’re really, really pleased.”