The Whites’ “standout” signing did not build upon his strong first impression at Elland Road.
While it’s unclear if Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has been given the right resources to lead his new team to promotion this season, the Whites are likely to have benefited from the current window’s massive purge.
Although not all departures will have been for the better—Rodrigo left after scoring 15 goals for the Yorkshire giants last season—they were nevertheless able to get rid of a number of uninspiring players who contributed to their failure.
Among the 15 players who were moved on to pastures new was midfield dud Marc Roca, with the Spaniard scoring just once and providing only two assists in his debut campaign at the club last term, while Rasmus Kristensen also departed on loan despite only arriving from Red Bull Salzburg a year ago.
As writer Zach Lowy noted, the disappointing defender simply “failed to make the step up from the Austrian Bundesliga to the Premier League” following his £10m move to Elland Road, having shared the same fate as teammate Brenden Aaronson, who also flattered to deceive after joining from Salzburg
It is fair to say that the United States international was arguably one of the more frustrating or surprising failures of last season, with the 22-year-old having not hit the heights that were expected despite the huge fanfare and his initial strong start to life in English football.
