Affordable Jay Rodriguez would be quality backup at Leicester City
Leicester City are in the market for a backup striker for Jamie Vardy while the transfer window is open. Would West Bromwich Albion’s Jay Rodriguez be a good option at £5 million?
Kelechi Iheanacho is seemingly low on confidence and misfiring regularly. Then there is Shinji Okazaki – who didn’t supply many goals anyway – who is leaving Leicester City. It is no wonder the club is targeting a backup to first choice striker Jamie Vardy.
The search will take the Foxes’ recruitment department to the farthest parts of earth and everything in between. Though, a suitable option is very close indeed – West Bromwich Albion to be exact.
Forward for the Baggies, Jay Rodriguez, is leaving the Hawthorns, he also has a clause for £5 million. That figure is a mere drop in the ocean in comparison to today’s football prices.
On Tuesday reliable outlet The Telegraph linked Brendan Rodgers’ team to the West Brom hitman:
"“Rodriguez could leave West Bromwich Albion this summer for just £5 million due to a release clause inserted last year.“Rodriguez is available for the cut-price fee, which will rise to £10m after 12 months, after striking an agreement with the Championship club last summer.“The clause was also inserted by Albion’s hierarchy in good faith due to Rodriguez’s professional behaviour last summer, at a time when other players were demanding to leave.“Burnley, Bournemouth and Leicester are now considering triggering the clause in Rodriguez’s contract and offering him a route back into the Premier League.”– John Percy"
Statistically, last campaign in the Championship Rodriguez ‘smashed it’ to use the modern vernacular. 22 goals and six assists is a brilliant output for anyone in the best European second division.
Burnley are thought to be very keen on their former player. Enrique, Jay’s father, was on the books at at Turf Moor. While the son was a youth and senior for the Clarets. These facts make it probable for the 29-year-old to rejoin his one-time side. However, Rodgers has a magnetism and track record that would make most professionals consider playing on Filbert Way.
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Would Rodriguez suit Leicester City?
Rodriguez is a versatile forward who can occupy either wing while netting prolifically in his previous season, albeit in a lower league. Although Leicester’s boss says he doesn’t require a target man for his system – the West Midlands man is six-foot-one. Yet it is vital to have a variety of different alternatives whilst contesting a multitude of differing defensive styles.
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A fairly intelligent performer, the ex-Southampton forward is talented with the ball at his feet and can head well. Not to mention being able to put a challenge in when necessary, as an unselfish team-mate. Establishing himself as Premier League standard, Rodriguez has won an England cap in 2013. Rodgers’ team could do a lot worse this summer in the search for Vardy’s understudy; leaving plenty of cash to secure Youri Tielemans’ signature.