When Rodri went down following an innocuous collision with Thomas Partey in the thrilling 2-2 draw against title rivals Arsenal, the outlook immediately looked bleak for the Spanish European Championship winner.

Rodri, labelled the “best player in his position” by his manager Pep Guardiola is not one to go down, let alone come off, unless he has to, and the Manchester City manager confirmed the severity of the knee injury in a post-match press conference after the Carabao Cup win over Watford.

“He will be out for a long, long time” were the dreaded words Manchester City fans feared. Despite the obvious consequences Rodri’s absence has for a Manchester City side competing for trophies on four fronts, the injury draws greater light to the concerns around the amount of football played in the current era and the health and wellbeing of professional footballers. It was Rodri himself that said players were close to going on strike over the increased number of matches in the football season, while Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has also expressed the same concerns.

Entertainment over wellbeing

Rodri’s case is an exceptional one of course. The Spaniard is a key player for Manchester City, while he is also the midfield lynchpin for the Spanish national team and played a significant part in the success at the Euros in the summer, even though he was substituted at half time in the final against England. While the Euros have been a regularly occurring tournament for decades, the immediate future of football this season is perhaps painting an image that key organisations like UEFA and FIFA are pushing professional players beyond their limits for the sake of more live and televised action.

The recent international window saw countries in Nations League action, coming just three weeks into the new Premier League season, and off the back of a summer of Euros and Copa America commitments. While the Nations League has already been around for five years, the upcoming schedule this season might have players wincing slightly. The better players will ultimately play more football for club and country, but for fans worldwide, even on Canada betting websites, there might even be a case for there being too much football to follow throughout the weeks and months.  

More top tier club football

The new revamped format of the Champions League has made its debut and there will be an additional two league stage matches to play compared to the previous group stage format. Furthermore, the expanded version of the FIFA Club World Cup is also set to debut in June 2025, with the 32-team tournament in the U.S beginning less than a month after the final day of the Premier League season.

Rodri’s injury, and indeed recent injuries to Kylian Mbappé and Alisson, are possible repercussions of an overload of football in recent years, including playing in a winter World Cup in 2022. Many will argue that the top players are paid astronomical amounts of money and should simply get on with whatever schedule is put in front of them. However, players and clubs certainly feel differently, and injuries to key players could have significant consequences on the outcome of titles and tournaments, but more importantly, for footballers with relatively short careers, they want to feel and be treated like humans as well as athletes.