David Norris has praised Leeds United for how they handled the sale of Archie Gray and the permanent signing of Joe Rodon.
Despite losing teenage wonder Gray to Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds were able to work out a deal for last season’s loanee to move in the opposite direction.
Despite appearing to be separate deals on paper, the trade resulted in the Whites obtaining £25 million plus the Welsh centre-back in exchange for Grey.
Rodon played 50 games in all categories for Daniel Farke’s team last season and was eager to return, despite attention from Premier League clubs.
“I think that’s a great bit of business, getting Rodon to come the other way,” Norris told MOT Leeds News exclusively.
“He was fantastic last season, and the fans were raving about him. There were rumours that Premier League clubs were interested, so this is a really excellent deal.
“I think it looks great on Leeds that Rodon seemed to want to come back over other clubs, and chose to come back permanently.”
Leeds United knows what they are getting.
The Rodon signing is a great silver lining for Leeds since they know exactly what he will provide to the backline.
Rodon was one of Farke’s most trusted players last season, as the Whites concluded the Championship season with a defence only surpassed by champions Leicester City.
The 26-year-old was overseas in the United States when he signed the papers to make the permanent move to Elland Road, demonstrating his urgency to complete the transaction – albeit due in part to Leeds’ push to sell Gray before the PSR accounting deadline on June 30.
The time had come for Rodon to leave Tottenham, and all indicators pointed to his departure from North London, but the Wembley defeat to Southampton could have meant the centre-back was bound for St. Mary’s instead [TEAMtalk, 30 May] – fortunately for Farke, this was not the case.
The German is now focusing on retaining as much of his squad’s core as possible as promotion becomes the sole goal, with Rodon likely to play an important role in the voyage.
