Story byManchester City and Chelsea locked in early battle for Rodri-esque Bayern wonderkidCity XtraThu, December 25, 2025 at 8:00 AM UTC·4 min readManchester City are mapping plans for the day one of their most irreplaceable players moves on from the Etihad Stadium, as per a new report. While Pep Guardiola’s side continues to compete on every front, the club’s recruitment machine is operating several moves ahead, quietly mapping out a future that extends beyond Rodri’s dominance at the base of midfield. It is the kind of foresight that has come to define City’s era – cold, methodical and relentlessly unsentimental. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementManchester City’s recruitment operation has rarely stood still under Guardiola and the latest intelligence from within the club underlines just how far ahead their planning stretches. Even while competing on multiple fronts, City are already laying the groundwork for a future beyond Rodri – and one name continues to surface above all others. Sources with knowledge of City’s scouting and analytics work confirm that Aleksandar Pavlovic has been identified internally as the closest stylistic and functional match to Rodri currently emerging in European football, as reported by TeamTalk. Still only 21, Pavlovic has become a central figure for Bayern Munich under Vincent Kompany.
