Spain hero Rodri's surprising car speaks volumes about Man City star

The Manchester City midfielder is one of the biggest names in world football, having lifted the Ballon d'Or in 2024 following Spain's Euro triumph. He could cap another remarkable chapter this weekend if he helps his country beat Argentina in the World Cup final.

Despite his enormous success, the Spaniard has always remained remarkably down to earth. Early in his professional career at Villarreal, he chose to stay in student halls while completing a degree in management and business administration, valuing education and a normal university experience over an extravagant lifestyle.

He remained in halls at the Universidad de Castellon while establishing his reputation in La Liga. He undoubtedly could have afforded his own property - his reported wages of £30,000 per week amount to over £1m annually - but was perfectly content sharing with his fellow students.

"After the first few days of getting to know him, there was normality," Rodri's friend Valentin Henarejo told Marca. "He shared a space with everyone, he liked being with his friends and sitting on the sofa with everyone."

Even heightened recognition in La Liga didn't alter matters. Henarejo added: "On a personal level his day-to-day life was the same. Train, travel to play, rest, study... as much as he could.

"He made the step up well, although there are always difficult moments when things don't go well, but we helped each other mutually. His growth was progressive, he always played for at least two teams."

Rodri also steered clear of expensive motors, with his mate recalling how simply getting from one place to another was all that counted, and the Premier League champion expanded on this in a 2024 essay for The Players' Tribune. "The student residence was a 15-minute drive from the Villarreal training centre, and I couldn't pay for a taxi every day," he said.

"So I would ride my bike to the tram station - take the bike on the tram - then boom, I'd bike the rest of the way to training. Finally I got my license and I told my father, "OK, I have 3,000 euros to buy a car. See what you can find me.

"He called me back the next day, 'OK, I found a good one. This old lady is selling it. She wants 4,000, but it's got a computer in it.' I'm like: 'Wow. A computer? It's a deal'.

"He brings me the car. It's an Opel Corsa. I get in the car and the 'computer' screen is about eight centimetres. You could tap it to turn on the radio and that was it. I was amazed. I drove that car to training every day, like a baller. My teammates made fun of me, but I didn't care! I loved it."

By the time Rodri had obtained his degree, he was well into his third campaign as a City player. He has still found the opportunity to feature in nearly 200 Premier League matches, while Sunday's final will mark his 70th senior cap for Spain.

"It was tough work, but at the end it was nice," he told mancity.com when reflecting on his degree in November 2021. "You have time for everything. Of course, it is a very demanding profession as a footballer because it demands you not only playing, training and the games, it is also the rest and the care you have to take about yourself.

"Imagine you come back to your home at 3pm so you have all the afternoon free. You can do many other things. Of course, you cannot follow the rhythm of the other students but with patience, with dedication you can do it."