Manchester City confirm Rodri suffered ligament injury to his right knee @www.asknig.com

Premier League champions, Manchester City have revealed Rodri suffered ligament damage to his right knee.

The Spain international was injured in the champions’ 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

A statement on mancity.com read: “Assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the injury and expected prognosis. Everyone at the club wishes him a speedy recovery.”

The midfielder travelled to Spain to seek specialist consultation this week following initial tests in Manchester.

There had been reports claiming he could miss the rest of the reason but Pep Guardiola remains hopeful it does not prove that bad.

Speaking before the club statement on Wednesday, the City manager said: “Still, we don’t have the definitive. He’ll be out for a long time, a while, but there is some opinions that maybe it will be less than we expect.

“Unfortunately he was injured. Right now, still, I cannot tell you [how long] because we’re waiting the last phone calls from him and the doctors to know exactly what, definitely, he has and the type of surgery that he has to get.”

Guardiola admitted Rodri leaves a large void, saying: “We don’t want this but we will still have a good season. I trust a lot in my players, I have a duty to find a solution.

“Rodri is irreplaceable and the team won’t play with the best midfielder in the world for a long, long time. Of course it’s a big, big blow for us.

“But it’s football, it’s happened and my duty is to find a solution, to be competitive like we have been for many years.”

Rodri was forced off in the first half of the draw with Arsenal after going down without contact and appeared to be in tears before leaving the field.