Well, Rodrigo is potentially not available for Leeds United’s visit to West Ham United on Sunday.
It was tentatively reported earlier in the week that the injured Spain international would be coming back for Leeds at East London.
Rodrigo hasn’t kicked a ball for the West Yorkshire outfit since the end of November.
And with Marcelo Bielsa’s outfit 16th in the Premier League standings, the Argentine, who has been without Patrick Bamford for the vast majority of the campaign, needs his attacking players available as much as possible.
However, Phil Hay, who covers Leeds for The Athletic, has claimed that Bielsa won’t be unleashing the former Valencia attacker immediately.
He told his podcast: “There was a bit of talk earlier in the week that Rodrigo might be okay. But Rodrigo hasn’t played since the end of November so given Bielsa’s track record, it would be a little bit of a surprise to see him get bombed in straight away at West Ham.”
Blow?
Absolutely.
Leeds have netted 21 goals in 19 Premier League outings this season which, honestly, is a relatively poor return.
It reflects the fact that Bamford has been absent for much of the campaign, but adding Rodrigo into the mix is another setback.
Okay so the Spaniard is hardly a prime Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to goals, but he is a £30 million attacking player and one who Bielsa needs available.
It really isn’t too late for United to get sucked back into the relegation battle.
Leeds are eight points clear of a Burnley side in 18th that have two games in hand over Bielsa’s outfit.
They remain in quite a precarious position and the sooner Rodrigo is available, the better.
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