Man City join transfer race for La Liga gem likened to Foden and Odegaard

Manchester City have reportedly joined the race for a player who has been statistically compared to midfield maestros Phil Foden and Martin Odegaard.

Foden has shown glimpses of his very best this season after a fairly lacklustre campaign in 2024/25, but recent reports have suggested that the reigning Premier League champions have an eye on a La Liga starlet who could be his future protégé.

A claim in the Daily Mail says that City’s scouts have been keen on the youngster for around two years, and his early-season stats certainly back up the idea that he has plenty of potential to become one of the game’s top creative midfielders.

But amid reported interest from Arsenal and Real Madrid, City may have their work cut out to lure the in-demand gem to the Etihad Stadium.

Rodrigo Mendoza is enjoying his first season of top-tier football, with Elche gaining promotion last term.

And he appears to be taking well to this new level of competition, placing in the top 6% of players performing at a similar level over the past year for progressive carries, as per FBref.

Mendoza’s impressive numbers don’t stop there, as he also places in the top 3% for progressive passes received and the top 1% for successful take-ons.

The main caveat to these stats is that they are derived from a significantly lower number of minutes (544) compared to the likes of Foden (2,655), who has played almost five times as many minutes across the Premier League and Champions League.

However, Mendoza’s age and creative numbers nevertheless paint a striking picture of the midfielder’s talents, despite the small sample size.

FBref’s data suggests he is statistically similar to the likes of Phil Foden, Martin Odegaard and summer arrival Tijjani Reijnders.

Therefore, it is perhaps no surprise that Mendoza’s prospects have caught the eyes of Pep Guardiola’s scouting team.

His lack of experience may be a sticking point for City, and could be a point of concern for a player who will be keen on consistent game time at this fragile stage of his career.

Meanwhile, the calibre of competition also after his signature could yet be City’s biggest obstacle to signing him in the future.

The report does not shed light on when an approach could be forthcoming, which could hint that a summer bid is more likely, given that the winter window is only weeks away.

Graduated in Sport Journalism (BA) with first-class honours from the University of Brighton and has since had bylines in The Times, sports business publication SportsPro, Football FanCast and The Gooner fanzine.