Ahead of their FA Cup quarterfinal against Liverpool today, Guardiola offered some public praise to the midfielder.
“Nico played alongside (Nico) O’Reilly at Newcastle and they were both some of the best performances this season, but Rodri is Rodri,” Guardiola said.
“Sometimes you need minutes to become who you are but you see Rodri in the Carabao Cup final, Bernardo too, it’s just that.
“Like (Abdukodir) Khusanov, he accepts the situation and trains harder. Always he’s ready. He’s a joy to have in the squad.
“The contribution from Nico, he has seen for himself that it’s his best season so far and he has a lot of things to improve, mentally, how he’s able to get the ball, break lines and look forward.
“Rodri is the best midfield player in the world so he can learn and he is so young like Phil (Foden) and has the margin to improve.”