Rodri reveals the one thing he did that made his teammates 'want to kill him' when he joined Man City

Manchester City star Rodri has revealed the one thing he did that made his teammates 'want to kill' him.

It's fair to say there aren't many footballers like Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante.

The Spanish midfielder has become one of the best players in the world since joining Man City in 2019, helping the club win four successive Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Last season he was key to City winning the league and Spain winning Euro 2024, resulting in him being one of the favourites to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or.

But his ability on the pitch isn't the only thing that marks Rodri out from the rest. The 28-year-old became a professional footballer while studying at university in Spain. He even lived in student halls while playing in La Liga with Villarreal.

He has remained humble since those days, and off the field sees himself as a normal person despite his success and wealth.

In his early days at City, Rodri spent a lot of his spare time face-timing his girlfriend Laura Iglesias, who he met at university.

With Iglesias studying to become a surgeon in Spain and Rodri playing in England, he'd take every opportunity he could to speak with her - even on the team bus.

Speaking to The Players' Tribune, Rodri admitted that his regular chats with his partner would often annoy his teammates.

"[Sergio] Aguero and [Nicolas] Otamendi actually used to make fun of me all the time — not just for my clothes, but because I used to get on the bus after every match and FaceTime my missus," Rodri said.

"Since I’m a footballer and she is a doctor, we had to get used to being long-distance for many years. What do you do when you’re long-distance? You FaceTime.

Rodri would regularly call his girlfriend Laura Iglesias on the team bus. [Getty]

"I’d call her after every game, win or lose. When we won, it was no problem, because the boys would be rowdy and celebrating and they wouldn’t notice.

"But when we lost, I was still just my normal self. I had no filter. When I speak to my missus, it’s like my brain flips back to being in uni. I become Rodrigo again.

"So it would be dead silent on the bus, everyone with their heads down, all depressed, and I’d be talking loudly, saying, 'Yeah, we were a bit s*** today, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, we drew. Yeah, I’m pissed…. Anyway, how was your day?'

"The first time, Aguero and Otamendi pulled me aside and they said, 'Man, you can’t be talking like that on the bus! Pep can hear you! Everyone can hear you!'

Laura Iglesias met Rodri while the pair were at university. [Getty]

"But after every match, I would call her. No filter. 'Yeah, it was OK today. We won, but I played kind of s***. Are you watching Netflix? What are you eating?'"

"We were like two teenagers. Everyone was so annoyed. They would be trying to grab the phone from me: 'He will call you back! Rodri, hang up the phone! He has to go now! Bye-bye!'"

"They wanted to kill me, but I didn’t care. When I leave the pitch, my goal is to always make sure that my feet are on the floor. I think sometimes people misunderstand that part of me."