Rodrigo certain for Victor Orta review in near future at Leeds United
Rodrigo is “certainly” in line for a review of his Leeds United contract status from sporting director Victor Orta, according to Leeds Live.
The often-embattled club-record signing has exploded this season with excellent goalscoring form which has put him in a much stronger bargaining position for the expected negotiations over his future.
His nine Premier League goals so far puts him behind only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Ivan Toney, and has helped negate the hole left by Patrick Bamford’s ongoing struggles.
But his contract is set to expire at the end of next season, and so far there has been no contact from the club over his future, leaving open the prospect that he could be sold cheaply in the summer.
The Leeds Live report points out that clubs rarely like “prized assets” getting close to the final year of their deals, so Orta has to have his eye on the situation for imminent assessment.
Time running out
It would be ironic if a player who has flattered to deceive for most of his time in West Yorkshire finally hit upon the formula that everyone had been waiting for and the club then contrived to lose him for less than he was worth.
Granted, it is risky to launch into a lucrative new contract with a 31-year-old on the back of the start of the season alone, but surely the club needs to make contact with Rodrigo’s representatives sooner rather than later.
Other clubs are bound to have started putting feelers out so a decision will need to be made, because if he keeps up his current form until the end of the season there will be no shortage of interested parties in picking up a goalscorer with just a year left at Elland Road.
The Spain international hasn’t been a flat-out disaster in his time at Leeds United, and were it not for the hefty fee it took to bring him in from Valencia would likely have been seen as a useful squad member in scoring six and seven goals respectively on the previous two seasons.
Jesse Marsch immediately saw him as an important senior player when he arrived, adding him to the leadership council last season, before relying on him heavily this year.
The American was rewarded by goals in three crucial wins against Norwich, Wolves and Watford last season, without which the Whites would have been relegated, before the excellent return this year.
If the player is happy at the club and the ownership are ready to stick with Marsch in charge, they could do a lot worse than securing the future of one of his key performers over the past year.
In other Leeds United news, the manager’s job safety has been called into doubt by a BBC journalist as the 49ers loom in the background.