Leeds United have had a knack of not replacing their departing stars in recent years.
Chris Wood’s replacement never really came, Pontus Jansson was only replaced by a loan in the shape of Ben White, while Leeds also struggled to get someone in to fill the void left by Lewis Cook.
Luckily, United eventually managed to fill those gaps and Marcelo Bielsa led the club to promotion, but even then the Argentine had to work with a depleted squad.
Kemar Roofe and Samu Saiz were sold before the start of the 2019/20 season, and no suitable replacements were signed with no attacking midfielder brought in and loan failures such as Jean-Kevin Augustin added to the squad in an attempt to replace Roofe.
Fortunately, the wrongs of last summer have been put right this summer as one signing has allowed United to competently replace both Saiz and Roofe in one fell swoop.
Rodrigo has come in for a club-record fee, and he’s already shown one of his key attributes.
The Spaniard hasn’t quite hit the ground running, netting just once in his first four appearances, but he has been gradually improving, scoring and testing the goalkeeper with a stinging shot against Man City. But what has been evident since day one is his versatility.
The Spaniard made his first start as a number 10, coming in after Pablo Hernandez dropped out of the XI with a late injury against Fulham, while he has also shown he can play as a striker, featuring there three times off the bench.
United have been desperate for an accomplished backup in both of those positions ever since Saiz and Roofe left, and while we don’t expect Rodrigo to be a bench warmer after joining for such a hefty fee, his arrival has certainly added much-needed depth to two key positions at the club.
Leeds have finally managed to replace both Saiz and Roofe with this signing.
The post Leeds look to have finally replaced Saiz and Roofe first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
