Richard Jolly: Gold-plated Rodri can go where no defensive midfielder has gone before
Manchester City’s man for the big occasion is clearly one of the best players in the world – an unlikely Ballon d’Or win would be fitting
While Rodri has become a scorer of important goals, his main role is helping others to get the glory. Photo: Getty
There has been one goalkeeper, Lev Yashin, and a trio of defenders, though Fabio Cannavaro was more of a stopper than the German midfielders who were converted into sweepers, in Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer. But there has never been a defensive midfielder.
The Ballon d’Or is almost seven decades old and Rodri, the man who earned Manchester City their first Champions League, could be a history-maker in another respect.