Rodrigo

Rodrigo Moreno Machado (born 6 March 1991), known as Rodrigo, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Qatar Stars League club Al-Rayyan and the Spain national team.

He started his career with Real Madrid, appearing solely for its reserve teams.

In 2009, aged 18, he moved to Real Madrid to complete his development.

Only a few weeks after arriving, Rodrigo started playing as a senior with the C team.

Shortly after, he was promoted to Real Madrid Castilla in Segunda División B, making his debut with the latter on 29 November 2009 in a 4–3 away win against UD Lanzarote (29 minutes played).

In 2010, he signed with Benfica with whom he won four titles, most notably the domestic treble in the 2013–14 season.

On 31 July 2010, Rodrigo signed a five-year contract with S.L. Benfica for a reported fee of €6 million.

Real Madrid had an option to re-buy the player for €12 million during the next two seasons; however, after Fábio Coentrão's transfer to the Spanish club, both parties agreed to cancel the buyback clause.

The following month, Rodrigo joined Premier League side Bolton Wanderers on a season-long loan.

He made his official debut in a League Cup fixture at Burnley on 21 September, starting in a 1–0 away loss.

Rodrigo first appeared in the league for Bolton on 23 October 2010, coming on as a substitute for Lee Chung-yong midway through the second half of a 1–1 away draw with Wigan Athletic.

On 5 January 2011, against the same opponent, he scored his only goal of the campaign, with the game ending with the same result.

Returning to Benfica for 2011–12, Rodrigo played 38 competitive matches in his first year and scored 16 goals, including the opener in the season's Taça da Liga final against Gil Vicente FC, which his team won for the fourth year in a row (2–1).

Born in Brazil, Rodrigo represented Spain at youth level, and in 2013 he won the European Championship with the under-21 team.

On 2 January 2013, he combined with Óscar Cardozo for five goals in a 6–0 home defeat of C.D. Aves in the fifth round of the Taça de Portugal.

On 31 January 2014, Benfica (and Benfica Stars Fund) sold 100% of Rodrigo's economic rights to a private company, Meriton Capital Limited, owned by Peter Lim, for €30 million, plus another potential €10 million on performance-related bonuses – he remained with them until the end of the campaign.

On 10 April, he scored a brace in a 2–0 home win against AZ Alkmaar in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League, which took the hosts through to the last-four stage 3–0 on aggregate.

Rodrigo scored Benfica's first goal in a 2–0 final victory over Rio Ave F.C. in the League Cup, and was subsequently voted player of the match as the Lisbon side won the competition for the fifth time in seven years.

On 14 May he had his penalty shootout attempt saved by Sevilla FC's Beto, in an eventual Europa League final loss; in total, he contributed 18 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions to win an unprecedented treble of Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and League Cup.

On 23 July 2014, Rodrigo moved back to Spain, after agreeing to a one-season loan deal with Valencia CF.

Although his economic rights were owned by Lim, a loan was arranged to take him and André Gomes to Valencia due to Lim's purchase of the latter club.

Rodrigo made his debut for the Che on 23 August 2014, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against Sevilla.

He scored his first La Liga goal on 22 September, netting the last of a 3–0 away win over Getafe CF through a penalty, but was later sent off; he was dismissed the following 30 May for striking Rayo Vallecano's Toño, and banned for three games by the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

On 15 June 2015, Benfica and Valencia announced they had reached an agreement on Rodrigo's federative rights, and he signed a four-year contract with the latter until 30 June 2019, for a reported fee of €30 million, which made him their most expensive transfer at the time.

After moderate returns in his first three seasons at the Mestalla Stadium, he scored a career-best 16 goals (19 in all competitions) in 2017–18 as the Marcelino García Toral-led team qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League; in late November 2017, he was rewarded with a new deal through 2022 with a reported release clause of €120 million.

The following year, he earned his first cap for the senior side, appearing for them at the 2018 World Cup.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Rodrigo moved to Spain in his early teens, settling in Galicia and started playing organised football with RC Celta de Vigo.

He then spent six years at Valencia, scoring 59 goals in 220 games and winning the Copa del Rey in 2019.

On 29 January 2019, Rodrigo scored a second-half hat-trick – including two goals in injury time – as the hosts defeated Getafe 3–1 in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, winning the tie 3–2 on aggregate.

He also scored in the decisive match, a 2–1 defeat of FC Barcelona at the Estadio Benito Villamarín.

On 17 September 2019, Rodrigo scored the only goal of the match in the first Champions League group stage fixture, providing Valencia's first ever win against Chelsea in the club's history.

On 10 December, he repeated the feat in a 1–0 away win over AFC Ajax to reach the knockout phase.

In 2020, he joined Leeds United.

On 29 August 2020, Leeds United announced the signing of Rodrigo on a four-year deal for a club-record fee of £27 million (€30 million).

He made his Premier League debut for them in the first match of the season against reigning champions Liverpool on 12 September, coming on as a substitute in the 4–3 defeat at Anfield.

Four days later, he made his first start in a 1–1 draw with League One side Hull City in the EFL Cup (penalty shootout loss).

Rodrigo scored his first goal on 3 October 2020, in a 1–1 home league draw against Manchester City.

Having missed several games through a groin injury at the beginning of 2021, he was used sparingly by Marcelo Bielsa upon his return before hitting strong form at the end of the campaign, scoring his first brace for the club on 15 May in a 4–0 away victory over Burnley.

He finished his first year with seven goals, four of them coming in the final four fixtures.

Rodrigo scored six times in the league in the 2021–22 campaign.