Leeds United journalist Beren Cross believes that Rodrigo may have made his last appearance at Elland Road.
The Lowdown: Brighton disaster
Rodrigo, who Victor Orta brought to Yorkshire in 2020 in a club-record deal worth £27m, had another afternoon to forget on Sunday.
The Whites eventually managed to take a point against Brighton after some magic from youngster Joe Gelhardt set up Pascal Struijk in stoppage time to take Jesse Marsch's team out of the bottom three.
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Leeds had it all to do following an awful first-half display, though, with Rodrigo struggling massively in the opening 45 minutes. Cross labelled Rodrigo’s display as ‘another sorry episode’, with the 30-year-old's error leading to Brighton’s opening goal and the Elland Road crowd getting on his back after a number of misplaced passes.
The Latest: Summer exit for Rodrigo?
Rodrigo was one of Cross’ five talking points from the draw with Brighton on Sunday in a story for Leeds Live.
The Whites reporter said it could have been Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha’s final Elland Road outing at the weekend, but for all the speculation regarding that pair, Cross added that ‘there’s every reason to believe this was Rodrigo’s last appearance at Elland Road’.
The Verdict: Makes sense
Rodrigo has been a regular under Marsch, who described the attacker as ‘incredible’, but things haven’t really worked out for the Spaniard in Yorkshire.
He was valued at £36m by Transfermarkt before leaving Valencia two years ago but that figure is now just £13.5m, showing how his career has declined since moving to the Premier League.
The 31-year-old has scored just 13 times in 61 Leeds appearances and is the top earner at Elland Road, so if the Whites are relegated on Sunday, you’d expect that it would make sense for all involved if Rodrigo followed Phillips and Raphinha out the door.
In other news: Reliable journalist shares news of another possible Leeds exit this summer; talks already 'very advanced'