City’s lone defensive midfielder showed what it takes to be world class with Chelsea needing two to keep champions at bay
Chelsea were once the trendsetters, boasting an individual who redefined a role. After Didier Drogba’s arrival in west London, there was a clamour by a plethora of Premier League teams to find someone who could play as a lone striker with equal success. The Ivorian redefined what a lone frontman could do.
Twenty years later the Manchester City midfielder Rodri is the man clubs want to clone because he is integral to the European and Premier League champions’ success. Over the past 12 months, Chelsea have spent in the region of £250m on Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia in the hope they could find the man capable of being the base to a new era.