Manchester City prepare special Ballon d’Or presentation for Rodri prior to Premier League clash

Decision makers at Manchester City have reportedly planned out a special presentation for Ballon d’Or winner Rodri at the Etihad Stadium later this month.

The 28-year-old became the first defensive midfielder to claim the illustrious individual award in the French capital of Paris last month since German football legend Lothar Matthaus won the prize in 1990.

Rodri defeated intense competition from a number of Real Madrid superstars on the evening, particularly Brazil international forward Vinicius Jr, sparking anger within the Santiago Bernabeu club and a total boycott of the ceremony from the Spanish giants.

However, very few within the game can argue with Rodri’s immense impact on both Manchester City and Spain’s successes in the Premier League and at the European Championships last summer.

And as such, the Spaniard’s abilities and performances within the game should be celebrated widely beyond the Ballon d’Or ceremony, with Manchester City themselves now having planned out their own way of marking the success later this month.

According to the information of StatCity on X, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner and Manchester City superstar midfielder, Rodri is expected to be presented with his recently-claimed award on the Etihad Stadium pitch later this month.

The presentation is said to have been planned ahead of kick-off in the Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday 23 November, with a ‘special video montage’ prepared to honour the Spaniard’s mammoth accomplishment in the game.

Manchester City’s opportunity to mark Rodri’s success has been significantly delayed by their own fixture schedule, which saw Pep Guardiola’s side embark on four consecutive away matches after a 1-0 win over Southampton that preceded the Ballon d’Or evening.

City will be hoping that the return to club action against Tottenham on a day when Rodri is expected to be marked with the aforementioned award will also bring an end to their losing run across competitions.

The international break hands City an opportunity to recover key players ahead of a hectic run of matches, having lost all of their last four contests against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, Sporting in the Champions League, and Bournemouth and Brighton in the Premier League.