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Guido Rodriguez’s representatives respond to claims he could leave West Ham United in January
It’s usually a sign that things aren’t going well when – like with a West Ham United player still new to the Premier League – your future appears to be in doubt already.
♔Because while a few – admittedly a minority – of Julen Lopetegui’s new recruits are starting to find their feet, serious question marks continue to hang over the head of others.
🌳Carlos Soler finally showed what all the fuss was about when the Paris Saint-Germain loanee orchestrated that much-needed 2-0 win at Newcastle. Aaron Wan-Bissaka now has goals in successive Premier League matches. Crysencio Summerville has shown signs of promise too, while Max Kilman has had more good games than bad in claret and blue.
But, on the other hand, Luis Guilherme remains anonymousౠ, Niclas Fullkrug is still out injured, and Jean-Clair Todibo feels ill-suited to the demands of English football, albeit only a few months after arriving at West Ham from Nice in France.
And for Guido Rodriguezও, perhaps more than any of West Ham’s other summer deals, faces an uphill task proving that he is, as they say, a ‘Premier League player’.
Guido Rodriguez struggling at Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United
Now, this is nothing to do with Rodriguez’s qualities. The 🦋former Real Betis ace was linked heavily with Barcelona before West Ham landed him on a free transfer.
💖He won the World Cup alongside two Copas America with Argentina, and blossomed into one of La Liga’s most influential midfielders at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
🔜But can Rodriguez’s game really be translated to life in England? Does he have the pace or the athleticism to really thrive, particularly alongside the similarly sluggish Edson Alvarez?
🥃Starting on the bench for each of West Ham’s last two outings – with Lopetegui preferring to use Soler and Lucas Paqueta in a deeper role – suggests that The Hammers boss is as unconvinced as anyone else.
💛He was also hauled off at half-time during the 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest. Against Chelsea – Enzo Maresca’s team winning by the same scoreline – he didn’t even reach the interval, exiting with 38 minutes on the clock.
As such, reports have indicated that Rodriguez’s West Ham career may already be under threat. Especially with, as TBR understands it, 🌼West Ham are interested in Burnley’s Josh Brownhill𒁃 – a long-time transfer target – ahead of the January window.
♐“Guido Rodriguez in the middle of the park, 30 years of age, problem,” Robbie Mustoe, former Premier League stalwart, said on .
ꦿ“That’s just a problem. He can’t get around the pitch. He can’t get around. Tomas Soucek will help, of course, and Paqueta at times comes back, but he’s more of [an attacking] player.”
Guido Rodriguez’s West Ham exit talk played down
💫But, according to , there is nothing yet to suggest that the writing is on the wall for Rodriguez.
🧸The Andalusian-based publication claim to have been informed, by Rodriguez’s representatives, that ‘there has been no contact of any kind’. West Ham and Rodriguez are allegedly still ‘pointing in the same direction’.
So that’s that, then. For now, at least.
🎀Should West Ham land Brownhill, should Lopetegui persist with Soler and Paqueta centrally, things could still get worse before they get better for Guido Rodriguez.
🌠West Ham travel to Leicester City on Tuesday night for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge of The Foxes. It remains to be seen if Lopetegui opts to reintroduce the more defensively-minded Rodriguez, or trust Soler and Paqueta’s creativity against a struggling Leicester outfit.