Manchester City midfielder Rodri has spoken to club officials about his potential burn-out. Last season, he played in 56 matches, missing just five games, as Man City achieved a historic Treble.
Rodri was the most featured player in Pep Guardiola’s squad, with a total of 4,465 minutes played. Erling Haaland was the nearest outfield player to that figure, falling 349 minutes short. Bruno Fernandes from Manchester United is the only Premier League player with more minutes.
Rodri has shared that he can't endure such a workload again. The 27-year-old is concerned about fatigue, particularly due to the extended stoppage time introduced in games.
Quoted by Daily Mail, Rodri said: "I don’t remember exactly the number of games I played, but I had a talk with the club and the coach because it’s not healthy."
"You can do it for one season, but when it’s two or three in a row, it can be worse for the team because your physicality can drop. So I have to watch out. We have already spoken that, it cannot always be like this."
"The important thing for me is that they know the situation and they know that for the next few seasons we will have to watch out," he added.
"Now I am young, but maybe when I get to 30 or 31 I cannot do this kind of thing, so I have to watch the body because 60 games is not the best thing for a player. Also, the seasons get even longer every year. We have to adapt to this."
Last year, Rodri was visibly exhausted during matches towards the end of the season. There were times when he even dropped to his knees during games. He was taken out of the starting lineup only after the team had secured the league title.
However, he mentioned that the excitement of making history helped him keep going: "On the other hand, I had the feeling that we were fighting for everything and I had to push my body to the limit. That’s why I sometimes feel bad at the end of the season - but for me it was great."
