Mundo Deportivo revealed Rodri's stance on participating with his team in the upcoming La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao, as the player looks forward to starting his journey with the Blaugrana.
Barcelona signed Rodri during the current summer transfer window, bringing him in from Manchester City for approximately 75 million euros plus add-ons, on a four-season contract.
Rodri did not participate in Barcelona's La Liga match against Elche last Saturday due to a lack of fitness, as the player had recently undergone minor back surgery and was unavailable to play.
Mundo Deportivo reported that Rodri returned to training this morning, having trained individually last week and been left out of manager Hansi Flick's plans for the Elche match.
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The report added that Rodri trained for some time with the rest of his Barcelona teammates who played for a portion of the match against Elche, along with players who did not participate at all, while the players who started against Elche underwent recovery exercises.
Only four players—Raphinha, Pedri, Fermín López, and Karim Adeyemi—who started or played a significant amount of time against Elche, joined the group training session today.
Mundo Deportivo clarified that Rodri will most likely make his debut for Barcelona against Athletic Bilbao next Thursday, a match postponed from the first round of La Liga due to players' participation with their national teams in the World Cup semifinals and final.
It further noted that Barcelona is awaiting the results of Gavi's medical tests following his knee injury sustained against Elche, pending the Catalan club's announcement regarding the young midfielder's diagnosis.
In related news, Sport reported that Alejandro Balde participated normally in Barcelona's training after being left out of the Elche match, amid the possibility of him leaving the Spanish club before the summer transfer window closes, while young player Jordi Bisquer did not participate in today's training as he joined the Spain Under-18 national team.
