Pep Guardiola praised the "incredible step forward" that Rodri has made this season with Manchester City.
The 24-year-old was briefly the club's record signing last summer when they signed him last summer from Atletico. Having missed out on Jorginho to Chelsea the previous year, the Blues were confident that Rodri could belatedly be the Fernandinho successor that they were chasing.
While there were plenty of encouraging signs from the Spaniard in his first season, he was not immune from the team struggles that scuppered their title challenge and his lack of pace and failure to break the game up were see as critical differences from how Fernandinho operated in that position.
City have kept their faith in Rodri with the midfielder starting every game so far in this campaign, and coaches have been left impressed by what they see as considerable improvements.
"He’s improving a lot. It’s normal, he understands the situations better," said Guardiola.
"He can improve. He is starting to read what happens better. Still he’s trying to solve it with his incredible energy but he is starting to think. He’s improved a lot compared to last season, starting to think in the mind before you take decisions.
"All of us have the feeling that he has made an incredible step forward in the way we play. He started with a double midfielder with Fernandinho at Wolves and now he is alone there. He’s playing really well."
