Video: Rodri "on the road to recovery" as Man City release training footage of Ballon d'Or winner

Manchester City midfielder and Ballon d'Or winner Rodri has returned to training five months after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The 28-year-old has been out of action since sustaining the injury in the first half of a 2-2 Premier League draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on September 22.

After Rodri travelled to Spain to 'seek specialist consultation' and undergo further examinations, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed just under a week later that the Spaniard required surgery and would miss the rest of the 2024-25 season.

Once undergoing surgery, it usually takes between six and nine months for athletes to recover from a torn ACL.

Despite that, Rodri has continued to provide positive updates on his rehabilitation and has refused to rule out the possibility of representing Man City before the end of the campaign.

Now, Man City fans have received a welcome boost as the club have posted a video of Rodri completing an individual workout at their Etihad Campus on Friday.

On the road to recovery ðŸ’ª pic.twitter.com/WovR8p6417

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 28, 2025

Footage released on their social media platforms show the midfielder completing a series of training drills on the first team's training pitches both with and without the ball at his feet.

Could Rodri play for Man City before end of season?

The fact that Rodri is back on the grass, albeit in individual training at this stage, is a huge boost for Man City and suggests that he is not too far away from making his long-awaited comeback.

However, a return before the end of the current campaign remains to be seen, with the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States this summer still thought to be a more realistic target for the Spaniard at this stage.

While Rodri himself is optimistic that he can recover in time to play before the domestic season comes to a close, Guardiola has erred on the side of caution when discussing a return for his "irreplaceable" midfield lynchpin.

"He's positive but I don't know to be honest (when he could return). An ACL is an ACL," Guardiola warned at the end of January. "Always I believe in long injuries there's a time you must respect because of the human body.

"The ACL is the ACL for every football player and every athlete so there is a time. The first month he was in Madrid all the time for the surgery there and then with the doctors and the physios.

"It's lovely to have him here in the locker room. His voice and his presence of course it is important.

"When he wants to travel to special places, I said to all the injured players of course you can come and it's nice to have him. Of course, it's good.

"[The] Most important [thing] for Rodri now is to recover well. You're not a teenager anymore but still you have years to play, and it's going to happen if you recover well.

"If you can be back for one week, one month and [take a] step back for next season it's not intelligent.

"Of course, he'd love to play tomorrow - I know that, but the body is the body, and recovery needs its own time. It's going really well and he feels really good, but step by step we will see."

In Rodri's absence, Man City have endured a disappointing campaign by their standards and currently sit a staggering 20 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, with Guardiola's side now in a hotly-contested battle to secure a top-four finish.

The Citizens have already been eliminated from both the EFL Cup and Champions League, so the FA Cup represents their only remaining opportunity to win silverware this season, and they can move on step closer to achieving that if they beat Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round on Saturday.