Leeds United are looking to wrap up the signing of Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Rodon before Saturday’s trip to Birmingham City.
That is according to Phil Hay of the Athletic, who says the Whites are keen to have both Rodon and Max Aarons in the squad for the trip to the West Midlands, with the latter close to joining from Norwich City.
Rodon is expected to be the first of the two through the door with an agreement already been reached with Spurs over a season-long-loan move, as per Mike McGrath of the Daily Telegraph.
Leeds have clearly stepped up their pursuit of a new centre-back in recent days after captain Liam Cooper was ruled out for eight weeks due to the injury he picked up on Sunday against Cardiff City.
Rodon will be looking to rediscover the form that saw Spurs spend big to sign him from Swansea City back in 2020.
The 25-year-old has never really been able to establish himself as a regular at Spurs but was handed a few opportunities by former boss Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho often spoke highly of Rodon during their time working together, hailing his ‘bravery’ as a defender after a mistake he made in a game against Liverpool.
Via Wales Online, he said: “Next game he plays for sure. He showed good personality, good concentration, was good on the ball. First half building well and going for duels. Not a coward for not to assume the duels, a brave boy to go for every duel, even against difficult opponents like they are.
“For me his performance was very, very good, very solid. He made one mistake. Unlucky that it leads to their third goal, the goal that basically ends the game. When I have a player who makes one mistake, it doesn’t matter how big the mistake was, but completely out of the context of a very good, solid performance I only have to support the player and protect the player and the best way to do that is to play the next game for sure.
“The third goal hurts me because it was a mistake by a kid who played very, very well. Joe Rodon played very, very well, so I feel very sorry for him and I’m happy with him.”
Those comments bode well for Rodon at Leeds as bravery is something that will be required to play Daniel Farke’s possession-style football.
Leeds have long been in need of a defender who is prepared to chuck his body on the line to stop goals from going in, but is equally adept on the ball.
Rodon appears as though he will be bringing both of those attributes to Elland Road and he should be a top signing at this level.
