Leeds United journalist Phil Hay has revealed the role that Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa played in the club’s recent signing of Spanish forward Rodrigo.
This comes after Hay recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Ornstein & Chapman Podcast where he spoke about a variety of topics concerning the Elland Road outfit.
On the topic of Leeds’ recent transfer swoops for Rodrigo and Robin Koch, Hay revealed how Bielsa was involved in the transfer deals, particularly with Rodrigo.
He said: “I think what’s interesting about the weekend is that when it came to Robin Koch from Freiburg, Bielsa didn’t speak to him directly.
“There was no kind of personal contact there, they sent videos out to him, they sent packages to show him how Leeds played, what would be expected of him and everything else, but with Rodrigo, Bielsa did apply the personal touch, he did speak to him in person – really to sell the move to explain to him where he would fit in and I think more than anything else, to convince somebody who is highly likely to have other offers and alternatives and potentially clubs with bigger things in front of them this season like the Europa League or the Champions League because [he] was likely to have [offers] in for him and to have [European football] on the table.”
The Yorkshire club signed the Spaniard from La Liga side Valencia for a club-record fee of £27 million.
In 220 appearances for Valencia across all competitions, Rodrigo racked up a total of 59 goals and 41 assists during his time at the club (per Transfermarkt).
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The fact that Bielsa personally spoke to Rodrigo before he signed with Leeds to try and persuade the attacker to make the move to Elland Road this summer just goes to show how much he wanted to have Rodrigo in his squad.
Heading into Leeds’ upcoming 2020/21 Premier League season, Bielsa and everyone else at the club would undoubtedly be hoping that Rodrigo can settle into the club as soon as possible and hit the ground running for the team in the top-flight when the season starts.