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Manchester City have completed the signing of Rodri from Atletico Madrid, a man who arguably could be the long-term successor to Fernandinho.

While his arrival will already put into question the amount of action City’s holding midfielders will receive, could one of their star players be looking at even more time on the bench next season?

Leroy Sane and his Man City journey somewhat represent perfectly the key ingredients that have made the domestic treble winners such a successful side since the arrival of Sheikh Mansour.

The £37m fee City paid to prise him away from Schalke seems modest in this current market, especially given the winger’s quality, but the signing was another example of the Citizens flexing their financial muscle to get one of their main targets, a feature of Mansour’s reign.

The ‘big-spending’ reputation is perhaps a little unfair on City though, even if they have just broken their transfer record with the £62.8m signing of Rodri.

Again, it’s not the most ludicrous fee to be paid in this current transfer climate, and shows that while Pep Guardiola’s side are willing to splash the cash, they will only do so if absolutely necessary.

The other element that’s visible for all to see throughout the German’s journey is the ruthlessness that City have had to adopt in order to reach and maintain the highest of standards for their performances.

Sane, to any neutral fan, looks a beautiful footballer who’s got the end-product to match the elegance and guile – or at least his 25 goals and 28 assists in 89 Premier League appearances would suggest so, and explains why Bayern Munich have been after the young star.

However, he’s not always been a regular, and City in the past have shown a willingness to drop their expensive investments if results aren’t at the desired level.

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The reality is that he’s by no means the finished article, or at least not in Guardiola’s eyes.

To put into context how much he’s fallen out of favour, the youngster didn’t start in any of City’s key games in the Champions League against Spurs, the FA Cup or Carabao Cup final, and managed one start in the final five games of the Premier League title run-in.

This all comes on the back of the winger being left out of Germany’s World Cup squad.

With both Joachim Lowe and Guardiola leaving him out on key occasions, we must surely accept that there’s something missing in the winger that us as fans and writers are yet to fully comprehend – a kink in his game or mentality that is holding him back.

So, how could Rodri’s arrival affect Sane?

While he’s not direct competition for the German, he will certainly cause a shift in midfield that’ll affect the playing time for the winger.

Firstly, it’s important to remember that while a long-term replacement could be needed for Fernandinho, he’s actually still performing at the highest level for his side, managing 29 Premier League appearances in the previous campaign.

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Ilkay Gundogan himself has filled the defensive midfield role in the Brazilian’s rare absence, often rotating with him as well, but it’s clear that since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund, Guardiola also considers the midfielder to be a key part of his side.

That’s shown in his 71 Premier League appearances despite not being considered one of the main starting three of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho.

Gundogan hasn’t only filled in for the Brazilian, he’s also played in one of the more advanced roles when needed, or even played alongside the ex-Shakhtar man to give his side more stability in central areas.

It’s Gundogan’s flexibility in the midfield three that may cause Sane to suffer even less game time at key moments in the coming season.

With Gundogan stepping into more advanced roles, Bernardo Silva, and even on the odd occasion De Bruyne, have had to move out to the right wing in order to fit them into the starting XI.

Though he is potent on the right, Raheem Sterling has been imperious, deadly and indispensable on the left of a front three, leaving Sane to ultimately settle with a place on the bench.

In fact, the depth in central midfield is so dense that Bernardo’s only been able to get the game time he deserves by playing on the wing and adapting his natural game.

With Riyad Mahrez also in the mix and fighting for a spot on the wing, Sane’s chances of starting look bleaker than ever before.

There is some hope for the German winger, though.

As Bayern Munich made strong approaches in the opening weeks of this transfer window, Manchester City stifled interest from the German heavyweights by placing an “insane” valuation on his head.

The other encouragement comes in the fact that Guardiola, despite always tinkering small elements and constantly looking to improve his side, has a tendency to always revert back to the ways he knows best and trusts.

In the 2017/18 season, Sane was vital to City’s penetrative attacking plays, making runs from out-to-in to slice open opposition defences, getting into dangerous areas on a number of occasions, bagging himself 10 goals and 15 assists in the process.

Sane on the left and Sterling on the right has been a go-to tactic on the big occasion before.

He started against Liverpool at the Etihad in January with this tactic and he eventually bagged the winning goal in an affair that swung the pendulum in City’s favour. Guardiola then brought Sane on against Manchester United at Old Trafford months later to fulfil the same role, rewarding his manager’s faith by slamming home a killer second goal.

But the reality is that Rodri’s arrival will saturate Guardiola’s options in central midfield, cement Bernardo’s place on the right wing, and intensify the competition amongst the wide players.

Sane’s prospects of re-establishing himself as a first team regular just got that little bit harder.