Leeds United head into the international break off the back of a frustrating draw away at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland on Friday night.
A point away at one of the top teams in the Championship is not a bad result on paper but the manner in which the Whites claimed a point left a bitter taste in the mouth.
The West Yorkshire outfit had done all the hard work to be 2-1 up in the game, thanks to goals from Joel Piroe and Junior Firpo, before an inexplicable error from Illan Meslier handed the home team a point in the 97th minute.
There were positives to take from the match, though, as Piroe scored his fourth goal of the league season after coming in from the start ahead of Mateo Joseph.
The Dutchman was also the club’s top scoring central attacker, with 13, in the Championship in the 2023/24 campaign, following on from his move from Swansea City in the summer of 2023.
Leeds have not always had the best luck when signing big-money forwards to bolster their squad, with Rodrigo being one example of their mixed success.
How much Leeds paid for Rodrigo
In the summer of 2020, after Marcelo Bielsa had guided the Whites to the Championship title, sporting director Victor Orta swooped to sign Rodrigo from LaLiga side Valencia.
The newly-promoted team smashed their transfer record to sign the 29-year-old forward for a reported fee of £27m, after he had scored 59 goals in 220 matches for the Spanish outfit.
Leeds avoided relegation from the Premier League in the 2020/21 campaign but their club-record signing did not set the division on fire, with seven goals and two assists in 26 appearances.
Rodrigo once again failed to provide regular quality in the final third for the Whites in the 2021/22 campaign, with a return of six goals and one assist in 31 outings for Bielsa and Jesse Marsch in the Premier League.
Leeds, however, did not need him to be a huge goalscoring threat because they managed to avoid relegation from the top-flight in both of those seasons.
Ironically, Rodrigo saved his best form in front of goal for the season that the Whites were relegated to the Championship, in the 2022/23 campaign.
Appearances
31
xG
8.12
Goals
13
Key passes per game
0.5
Assists
1
As you can see in the table above, the Spain international scored an impressive 13 goals from 8.12 xG for the club, but that was not enough for them to avoid the drop.
His creativity did leave a lot to be desired that term, though, as the experienced forward created just 0.5 chances per game and registered one assist for his teammates in total.
Things could have been very different for the Whites, however, as former Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani wanted to bring Edinson Cavani to Elland Road.
Leeds United's interest in Edinson Cavani
The Italian owner, speaking ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, admitted that he was considering a swoop to sign the Uruguay international on a free transfer.
One that got away
The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast's One That Got Away series.
Cavani was set to be available on a free transfer, upon the expiry of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, and Radrizzani stated that the striker could “contribute” to the club and that he had “thought” about a move for the attacker.
The former Leeds chief did add, though, that he had not spoken with Bielsa about whether or not the Argentina head coach would want Cavani in his squad, which means that it remains unknown as to whether or not the manager would have approved any deal.
Bielsa did not have a decision to make in the end, as the PSG legend – who had racked up 200 goals and 43 assists in 301 matches for the French side – ultimately joined another Premier League club on a free transfer.
After winning a staggering 23 trophies with the Ligue 1 giants, Cavani made the decision to leave Paris at the end of his contract and eventually put pen to paper on a deal with Manchester United.
His form in his first season at Old Trafford, in the same year that Rodrigo made the move to Elland Road, may have left the Whites feeling like he was one that got away.
Edinson Cavani's form for Manchester United
Whilst Rodrigo struggled to provide regular quality at the top end of the pitch for Leeds in his debut season with the Whites, Cavani showcased his lethal nature in a Manchester United shirt.
The veteran forward, who was described as “spectacular” and a “world star” by journalist Gabriela Pepe, produced 17 goals and five assists in 39 appearances in all competitions during the 2020/21 campaign.
Rodrigo, meanwhile, did not manage that many goal contributions in his first two seasons with the West Yorkshire side combined, which speaks to the gulf in quality between the two.
Cavani produced an eye-catching six goals and two assists in five Europa League outings for United, proving his worth on the European stage, and proving himself to be a reliable option in the Premier League.
Starts
13
Goals
10
Big chances missed
7
Big chances created
5
Assists
3
As you can see in the table above, the 33-year-old marksman averaged one goal contribution per start in the English top-flight in his debut season in the country.
He also only missed seven ‘big chances’ to go along with his ten goals in the Premier League, which shows that Cavani was a lethal finisher who rarely passed up a high-quality opportunity to find the back of the net for the Red Devils.
These statistics suggest that Leeds missed out on an elite talent who, despite being in the final throes of his career at the top level, could have been a terrific option for Bielsa to call upon.
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Instead, they signed Rodrigo and he struggled for goals in his first two seasons before finally hitting the goal trail the year that the team was relegated to the Championship.