Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has reserved special praise for Manchester City midfielder Rodri’s displays this season.

Liverpool’s Fabinho is usually heralded as one of the Premier League’s best holding midfield players, along with the likes of Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante and West Ham’s Declan Rice, but Neville feels Rodri is right up there:

“Special mention to Rodri. I think Rodri, at this moment in time, I love Fabinho at Liverpool. But I think Rodri is outperforming him in that midfield role. He is the unsung hero of this team. He sustains every attack. I wasn’t quite sure of him when he first came over. But he has been outstanding.”

City supporters don’t need to be told by Neville about Rodri’s exploits over the past few months. The Spaniard has been key to the Citizens’ excellent recent form.

It is telling that club captain Fernandinho has only made three league starts this campaign, with manager Pep Guardiola now trusting Rodri more and more to marshall things in the middle of the park.

Of course, consistency over a longer period of time will be required for more people to recognise the 25-year-old’s contributions, but he is now looking like a player well worth the £62.8m that the club paid two and a half years ago.