Marcelo Bielsa has hinted that he sees club record sigining Rodrigo primarily in the attacking midfield role at Leeds United.
The Spain forward arrived in a £26million move this summer, breaking the club's 19-year transfer record as the Whites started their summer spending with a splash.
The 29-year-old has featured in all five of Leeds' Premier League matches so far this season and has put in some promising performances, not least against Manchester City, when he netted his first goal in a 1-1 draw against Pep Guardiola's side at Elland Road.
The former Valencia forward was brought to boost Marcelo Biesa's attack and arrived with a history of playing the number nine role, but has largely been utilised behind Patrick Bamford, who has kept his place at the head of Leeds' attack, netting three goals already this term.
Bielsa discussed depth and versatility at length in his pre-Aston Villa press conference on Wednesday, suggesting that he primarily sees Rodrigo as competition for Pablo Hernandez, while Tyler Roberts is the chief back-up for Bamford.
"The squad is not small because we have two players per position and there are not big differences between the two players who occupy each position," Bielsa responded when asked about the importance of flexibility in his squad.
"Just to make a reference, for example we have Bamford and Tyler Roberts up front, Rodrigo and Pablo in attacking midfield. On the right we have Poveda and Costa, and on the left we have Raphinha and Harrison.
"At the moment we currently have injuries in all of the same positions, so that doesn’t mean that we have a small squad, it's just that if we have six players for three positions and four of them are out, it doesn’t mean that we have a small squad.
"When you have Klich Llorente, Cooper, Berardi, Pascal, Phillips, they are all of a similar level. When you are missing other players that you mentioned, then obviously there are going to be some issues.
"We also count on players from the academy who deserve their spot in the squad. As a result we feel we can manage the necessities of the team."
Leeds head to Villa Park on Friday without injured duo Kalvin Phillips and Diego Llorente, while Liam Cooper is a doubt after limping out of the warm-up before Monday's defeat to Wolves following his recent groin problem.
