Could Aston Villa’s transfer bid for a talented winger from Spain be derailed by Liverpool?
A deal, which is expected to be worth up to £30m, appears well on its way to fruition with Villa likely to have more freedom to spend after the PSR deadline passes at the end of June. With Rodríguez currently on international duty with Spain at the European Under-21 Championship, there is little hurry anyway. Or didn’t seem to be, until Liverpool got involved.
Why Liverpool could hijack Aston Villa’s move for Jesús Rodríguez
Earlier this week, reports from Seville suggested that Villa weren’t the only team interested in striking a deal for the 19-year-old winger, who broke into Betis’ first team this season and finished the campaign with three goals in 32 appearances across all competitions.
Liverpool are also said to be in contact regarding a deal for Rodríguez, who has a reported €50m (£42.8m) release clause but who is said to be available for a fee in the region of €30-35m – up to £30m.
If reports in the English media are to be believed, it’s Villa who are closer to striking a deal or at least showing more determination to do so, perhaps understandable given that Liverpool aren’t short of options on the left wing as it stands. Rodríguez has shown plenty of signs of being a shrewd long-term investment, however.
The Spaniard, who was involved in Betis’ defeat to Chelsea in the Europa Conference League final and scored the opening goal for Spain’s Under-21s in a 1-1 draw with Italy on Tuesday, is a right-footed wideman who most often operates on the left, and has proven dangerous on the cut-back and more than capable of bursting through defences with a sharp turn of acceleration and impressive close control.
Liverpool may have Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota on the books already, but with the latter two often deployed in a more central role there may be space for Rodríguez to carve out a role for himself backing up Díaz.
Just how much money Liverpool will have left to spend after they’ve wrapped up the signings of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez is an open question, especially given the likelihood that they try to sign a striker, but if there’s money left to invest in youth then Rodríguez looks like a promising gamble to take.
Jesús Rodríguez on track for an impressive career
Although Rodríguez established himself as a regular starter in Seville, it’s likely that both Liverpool and Aston Villa see him as a rotational option in the Premier League, at least to start. In part, that’s because while Rodríguez is already a superb dribbler who can beat opposing players one-on-one with regularity, his all-round game still has some gaps, especially when trying to come around the outside.
When cutting back inside, Rodríguez is a considerable threat, but a weaker left foot means that he can be shown outside without the defence having to be unduly concerned. His crossing and touch on his left foot simply isn’t as strong, and he’ll need to find way to move past to that to hit the highest levels of the game.
He also isn’t, as it stands, a serious goal threat in his own right. His ability to break the lines and carry the ball quickly downfield makes him immensely dangerous for the opposition but his finishing needs to sharpen up if he’s going to become a threat in his own right.
Of his three senior goals so far, two came from close range after the defence lost him badly at the back post, while a third came from 20-yards but needed a deflection to send it past the goalkeeper. He has yet to score the kind of goal which will have defences worrying about keeping a particularly close eye on him.
Of course, given that he’s only 19, there is an awful lot of time for his to develop those skills and flesh out his overall game plan. He has the talent, the speed to get away from defenders and the strength and balance to ride tackles and muscle his way out of tight spaces. Getting the ball off his isn’t easy – he just needs to vary the ways in which he can use it once he gets to the final third.
Villa seem to rate him very highly, and see him as a significant long-term prospect out wide who can make immediate contributions as they attempt to make their way back towards the Champions League – but as Liverpool keep building one of the most expensive transfer windows in history, they could see Rodríguez as a sufficiently savvy investment to try and knock Villa out of the market. For now, Villa seem to be in the lead, but much could change by the time Rodríguez gets back from Slovakia.
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