LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Manchester City midfielder Rodri will not be at full fitness until after September’s international break, Pep Guardiola has revealed.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner missed most of last season due to ligament damage and without him City failed to mount a strong defence of their Premier League crown.

The 29-year-old Spanish international fought his way back to fitness but suffered a groin injury in City’s defeat to Saudi club Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup in the United States last month.

“Rodri’s getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al-Hilal and for the last five or six weeks,” Guardiola said in comments released on Saturday.

“He’s training right now and in the last two or three days is better. Hopefully maybe the international break is when he will be really, really fit.

“Hopefully, in the games (prior to that) he can play some minutes but the important thing is to not have pain because we don’t want him to be come back and injured, come back and injured.

“We will try desperately to avoid that but he’s training the last two or three days with us and that’s good.”

The City staff are also nursing Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic back to fitness and both players joined Rodri in being left out of a pre-season game in Sicily this week.

City face Wolves in their first Premier League game of the season next weekend and then play Tottenham and Brighton before the September internationals.