MANCHESTER CITY star Rodri isn’t just a ball-winner.
The Spanish star, 27, has completed a degree in business administration and management, while juggling his stellar playing career at the Etihad.
Rodri signed for Man City from Atletico Madrid in a record breaking £63m deal
He admitted, it required patience and dedication alongside winning the Premier League for his club. However, the hard work paid off.
“I am finished. I just have to do a last essay, a small essay, but all the subjects, the big essay at the end is done,” he told mancity.com.
“It was tough work, but at the end it was nice.
“You have time for everything. Of course, it is a very demanding profession as a footballer because it demands you not only playing, training and the games, it is also the rest and the care you have to take about yourself.
“Imagine you come back to your home at three o’clock so you have all the afternoon free. You can do many other things.
“Of course, you cannot follow the rhythm of the other students but with patience, with dedication you can do it.”
The humble midfield player had to pay £63 million to be a part of the Premier League winning team in 2019.
But unlike his colleagues, you won’t find him sporting a ton of tattoos or frequenting the tattoo parlors in the Manchester area because he doesn’t enjoy getting inked.
Moreover, Rodri is not on Instagram, so those hoping to follow him there would be disappointed.
Spanish international Rodri juggled his career at Man City to finish a business management degree
University challenge
Rodri lived under the radar when he was starring in LaLiga, earning rave reviews at Villarreal two seasons ago, and living his life as a student.
Shunning renting a posh apartment, Rodri lived in a shared space at the Universidad de Castellon in eastern Spain.
He studied Business Studies and Economics, and balanced a precarious football career with his degree, never missing a lecture.
And it left his fellow students completely baffled that a pro footballer they were seeing playing every weekend was floating around the student halls.
Rodri undertook Business Studies and Economics during his time at Villarreal, when he was pictured studying in basic student halls
Education has always been important to the midfielder
Rodri studied Business Studies and Economics at the Universidad de Castellon
The room Rodri lived in during his university studies
“People were shocked when they saw Rodri, who was playing in the top flight but still living at the university residence,” his friend Valentin Henarejo told Marca.
“After the first few days of getting to know him, there was normality.
“He shared a space with everyone, he liked being with his friends and sitting on the sofa with everyone.
“But, of course, at the start it was strange seeing him playing table tennis or doing his washing.”
Going pro never changed him
Money for Rodri, who earns around £220,000-per-week at the Etihad, isn’t what motivates him, according to his mate that remembers his early days as he began to find his feet in Spain’s top flight.
In fact, rather than splash the cash on a Ferrari or Lamborghini like a lot of footballers, his first car was an old-banger he bought from an elderly lady.
Rodri’s first car was an old Opel Corsa he bought off an elderly lady
“His car, until recently, was a second hand Opel Corsa which he bought from a woman when he got his driving licence,” Henarejo said.
“They advised him to buy a better one for his safety and the journeys from Madrid to Castellon, but he didn’t understand why he would spend so much on a car.
“In fact, one time he told me that some friends were ‘crazy’ for buying nice cars, all that mattered was that it takes you from A to B and that’s all.”
A practical boy, it could have been easy for Rodri’s personality to change when he began getting talked about by the Spanish press as the successor to midfield regista Busquets.
However, that wasn’t the case.
Henarejo revealed: “When he got to the first division he didn’t change.
“On a personal level his day-to-day life was the same. Train, travel to play, rest, study… as much as he could.
“He made the step up well, although there are always difficult moments when things don’t go well, but we helped each other mutually.”