Rodrigo: Not A Striker, Not A Midfielder, But The Best Of Both

With Rodrigo receiving some mixed reviews during his first few months in West Yorkshire, we assess the evolution of his role from his time at Valencia, and now his performances for Leeds so far this season, to highlight how he has quickly established himself as a highly accomplished Premier League attacking midfielder, rather than the new striker he was expected to be.

When the rumours first broke in August last year that Leeds United were in advanced talks to sign Spanish international striker Rodrigo, excitement and anticipation spread like wildfire. And why not, eh? After all, this was a player who was not only an experienced international for Spain, but had played Champions League football just last season for Valencia, and recently attracted admiring glances from Atletico Madrid.

Initial expectations of Rodrigo were unsurprisingly for him to come in and challenge Patrick Bamford for the sole starting striker position. Bamford, despite finishing as Leeds’s top scorer in their Championship winning season, was a divisive figure and one who many felt needed replacing, or at least seriously challenging if Leeds were to make their presence felt again in the top flight. However, as we all know, Bamford has since taken to Premier League football with relative ease, registering 11 goals, while Rodrigo has just the 3…