There is no bigger fan of Rodrigo Bentancur than fellow Uruguayan Gus Poyet - and our legendary former midfielder and assistant manager feels captaining Uruguay over the international break will take him to another level.
Already capped 80 times by his country, Rodri was handed the captain’s armband by new Head Coach Diego Forlan in the absence of Federico Velverde for the friendlies against Japan and South Korea. Indeed, Rodri played in all three of Uruguay’s matches across the break, finishing up with a 6-1 win in India, where Jose Gimenez was skipper.
It’s been a rollercoaster few years for Rodrigo, who made such an impact when arriving alongside Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus in the second half of 2021/22. He had to recover from serious injuries in 2022/23 and 2023/24 before playing a key role in our UEFA Europa League success in 2024/25.
Rodrigo put in an outstanding performance against Forest
Then, last season, those injuries struck again, ruling him out from January-April. He returned for our crucial last six matches and started them all under Roberto De Zerbi.
Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali’s arrivals have boosted us further in the central areas alongside the likes of Conor Gallagher, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray and Rodrigo has arguably been our best player so far this term – including an incredible show in our goalless draw at Forest in early September.
Gus Poyet in his pundit's role for the Premier League in 2022
Speaking to us this week, Gus, capped 26 times by Uruguay, 98 appearances here 2001-2004 and then a League Cup winner as assistant to Juande Ramos in 2008, gave us this assessment…
“Well, I think captaining Uruguay is the most important part. I mean, as a player, I know him. There are not many midfielders who can do a little bit of everything - run with the ball, pass well, tackling, getting upset, caring.
“I remember last year when he was not fit enough, but he wanted to play 90 minutes, even when the coach needed to change him because of cramps, he wanted to stay on the pitch, wanted to play.
Rodrigo Bentancur holds off Japan's Kaishu Sano
“Now he went to another level in Uruguay because Valverde missed the games in the international break and Diego Forlan gave him the captaincy. He took responsibility to an incredible level. I saw a few of his team talks before the games, and he's showing that experience. You know when you go to a different level and, for sure, this captaincy role in Uruguay will catapult him to another level here with Tottenham."
“He's got competition at Spurs - I always love competition. The worst thing you can do in football nowadays is to give someone the possibility of thinking, ‘I will play, even if I'm in a bad time’. No. They need to be always at the top - and he has very good competition.
“So, you know, that's one of the things I like the most about this team. The options that Roberto De Zerbi has to change the game, or to keep the ball, or to press higher, or to defend deeper – and Rodrigo does all of that, so he can be always involved.”
Gus Poyet on target against Middlesbrough - 2001
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