Phil Hay has been discussing the significance of Leeds United’s chase of striker Rodrigo from Valencia this summer.
Rodrigo is yet to be officially unveiled by the club, though Victor Orta has spoken highly of the proposed deal, labelling it as ‘the most expensive signing of Leeds’ history’, with the club reportedly ‘on the brink’ of sealing the deal (as per Leeds Live).
According to Transfermarkt.co.uk, the deal bringing the Spanish international striker to Elland Road is worth £27m. The 29-year-old spent some time in the United Kingdom previously, during a loan spell with Bolton from his parent club at the time, Benfica.
After initially joining Valencia on loan, the La Liga club signed the player on a permanent deal for £27m in July 2015 (as per Transfermarkt.co.uk), for whom he scored 59 goals and provided 41 assists in 220 appearances.
When discussing the signing and what it means for the club, here is what The Athletic reporter had to say on his podcast, The Phil Hay Show:
“This takes them [Leeds] into a completely different arena. This was always the thing at Elland Road, they wanted to be operating on a totally different level, they wanted to move from EFL status to Premier League status and to get everything that went with that.”
“A lot of what has gone on at Elland Road since they went for Bielsa in 2018 has been strategic, there has been a lot of planning and a lot of thought behind what they’ve done. There’s been a lot of thought given to how it might work and what might happen for them
“This is a big hit. This is a major, major statement and I think it’s fair to say that there will be supporters of other clubs in the Premier League who will be looking at this and wishing that their clubs were showing something like the same financial clout.”
Are you excited by Rodrigo's imminent arrival?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
The signing of Rodrigo, in our view, shows Leeds mean business and judging by his comments, Hay also agrees that the capture of the striker is a ‘major statement’. The Whites won promotion to the Premier League last season for the first time in 16 years and this is yet another thing for the fan base to get excited about as they prepare to kick off their 2020/21 campaign.