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There is little doubt that Marcelo Bielsa enjoyed a terrific spell at Leeds United as he transformed the club from a perennial midtable Championship side into a Premier League outfit.
Prior to the Argentine genius’ arrival in the summer of 2018, the Whites had finished 13th or lower in the second tier in six of the previous seven seasons.
They had also not made the play-offs at that level since the 2005/06 campaign under the management of Kevin Blackwell, which illustrates the size of the task that was facing Bielsa.
However, the ex-Marseille boss hit the ground running and led Leeds to third in his first season before going on to win the Championship title the following term.
Bielsa then secured a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League as the club played at the top level for the first time since the 2003/04 campaign.
He enjoyed great success on the pitch for the vast majority of his time at Elland Road but there were some questionable moments and the signing of Spanish forward Rodrigo was one of them.
How much did Leeds pay for Rodrigo?
Whilst working alongside sporting director Victor Orta, Bielsa sanctioned a swoop to sign the attacker from LaLiga outfit Valencia for a reported fee of £27m.
This was a club-record transfer at the time for Leeds and a statement of intent from the club that they were prepared to have a real crack at the top-flight.
This turned out to be a mare from the Whites as Rodrigo ended up being a worse option than Bamford and his value plummeted throughout his spell in England.
Why did Leeds sign Rodrigo?
The Spain international was brought in for a record fee off the back of a five-year stint in LaLiga with Valencia but the warning signs were already there for Bielsa and Orta.
Rodrigo’s finishing throughout his last two league seasons with the Spanish side left a lot to be desired and did not suggest that he would be a reliable goalscorer for the club.
The experienced attacker made 33 La Liga appearances throughout the 2018/19 campaign and contributed with eight goals for his side. However, the £27m-rated ace also missed a whopping 17 ‘big chances’ and racked up 14.7 xG.
This means that Rodrigo underperformed by 6.70 xG in front of goal based on the quality of chances that were being provided to him by his teammates.
He struggled again during the 2019/20 season as the former Benfica star scored four goals from an xG of 7.23, which was an underperformance of 3.23 goals.
The left-footed whiz made 27 league appearances that term and missed nine ‘big chances’ as he failed to make the most of the opportunities that were being created for him.
Whereas, his fellow attackers were helping him to register more assists than the quality of chances he was creating suggested that he should have had.
Over those two seasons, Rodrigo registered 9.95 xA and was rewarded with 13 assists as his teammates overperformed at the top end of the pitch.
How many goals did Rodrigo score for Leeds?
These worrying trends did not dissuade Leeds and Bielsa from making him the most expensive player in the club’s history during the summer transfer window in 2020.
Rodrigo went on to score 28 goals and assisted five in 97 matches in all competitions for the Whites as he failed to provide a consistent attacking threat in the final third throughout his time in England.
His debut Premier League season was relatively underwhelming, given the financial outlay that was spent on the 29-year-old dud, as he scored seven goals and assisted two in 26 top-flight matches, which included 14 starts, as per Sofascore.
The Spanish flop followed that up with six goals and one assist in 27 starts and 31 appearances in total across the 2021/22 league campaign.
His best season in a Leeds shirt then came last term as the club were relegated from the Premier League. He plundered 13 goals and one assist in 23 starts and eight substitute outings for the Yorkshire-based outfit.
This means that Rodrigo contributed with 26 goals and four assists in 64 top-flight starts for Leeds, which is one goal involvement every 2.13 starts on average.
How many Premier League goals has Bamford scored for Leeds?
Bamford, on the other hand, scored 23 goals and provided 11 assists in the club’s three seasons at the top level before their relegation earlier this year.
The England international produced a superb 17 goals and seven assists in 37 starts throughout the 2020/21 campaign. He proved himself to be the go-to man for goals under Bielsa in spite of Rodrigo being brought in for a record fee, with ten more goals and five more assists at Premier League level.
However, injury troubles restricted Bamford’s involvement over the subsequent two years as the ex-Chelsea prospect scored six goals and assisted four in 25 league starts.
This means that the Leeds marksman chipped in with 23 goals and 11 assists in 62 Premier League starts in that three-year period, which is one involvement every 1.82 starts on average.
Premier League (Leeds) |
Bamford |
Rodrigo |
---|---|---|
Seasons |
Three |
Three |
Starts |
62 |
64 |
Goals |
23 |
26 |
Assists |
11 |
Four |
These statistics show that Bamford, who cost £16m less (£10m), provided a greater threat than Rodrigo at the top end of the pitch at that level.
How much did Leeds sell Rodrigo for?
The Whites were forced to cash in on the Spain international earlier this year as Qatari side Al Rayyan swooped in to secure his services for £3m, which was the value of his relegation release clause.
This means that Rodrigo’s value at Leeds plummeted by a staggering £24m over the course of his three years in Yorkshire, from the initial £27m they paid for him.
His goals were not enough to keep the club in the division at the end of the 2022/23 campaign and he did not do enough in his time at Elland Road to live up to the price tag.
Former Premier League forward Kevin Phillips described Rodrigo’s lack of consistent output as “disappointing” when taking into account his hefty valuation.
Therefore, Bielsa and Leeds had a mare with the signing of the Spanish attacker as they brought in an ageing, underperforming, forward for a club-record fee and he ended up being a worse option than Bamford who also lost the club millions by the end of his spell.