Leeds United director of football Victor Orta has revealed that he signed Rodrigo in order to show the club’s ambition following their promotion to the Premier League.
Orta sanctioned a club-record fee of £26million for the Spanish international, who joined on a four-year contract from Valencia in August.
Rodrigo was the most eye-catching signing of a transfer window which also saw defender Diego Llorente, winger Raphinha and centre-back Robin Koch arrive in Yorkshire.
Orta believed that landing a player of Rodrigo’s calibre, who has won 25 caps for Spain and played for Benfica and Real Madrid as well as Valencia, would show Leeds mean business on their return to the top flight after a 16-year absence.
“It was a strategic signing to show ambition,” he told Portuguese newspaper Record.
“Rodrigo had other options, but he was always interested in our project. I’ve followed him since the academy of Real Madrid, even before Benfica.”
The 29-year-old has settled in well under manager Marcelo Bielsa, scoring one goal in his first seven appearances across all competitions.
He has been eased into the first team by Bielsa, regularly coming off the bench and only completing 90 minutes once in the Premier League so far.
Rodrigo has missed Leeds' last two league matches against Leicester City and Crystal Palace, as well as Spain’s games against the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, after testing positive for coronavirus.
He is now back in training at Thorp Arch and could feature against Arsenal, who visit Elland Road on Sunday.
Leeds are currently 15th in the Premier League table, having taken 10 points from their opening eight games.
