Postecoglou was ‘right’ to move on ‘exceptional’ Tottenham star as Leeds prep major transfer assault

Robbie Savage has told TEAMtalk that Ange Postecoglou was correct to let Joe Rodon depart Tottenham and join Leeds over the summer despite the troubling defensive issues Spurs have since suffered.

The Wales defender, 26, has been at Spurs since a £11m move to north London in October 2020 when Jose Mourinho plucked him from Swansea City. However, first-team chances have been hard to come by for Rodon, who has just 24 appearances to his name at Tottenham during that time.

The centre-half spent a spell on loan in France with Rennes last season, and, after learning his prospects of playing for Spurs this season under Postecoglou would be no better, Rodon was on the move once again, this time to Leeds United.

Since signing on a season’s loan, Rodon has made 16 appearances for the Whites and has become one of the first names on Daniel Farke’s teamsheet.

With Leeds sat third and on a run of 10 wins in their last 14 games, talk has risen that Leeds could look to make Rodon’s move a permanent one.

To that end, Spurs will reportedly seek a fee of around £15m to £20m for a player whose deal is due to expire in summer 2025.

In the meantime, though, there have also been suggestions that Tottenham could look to recall the player, though thankfully for Leeds, Spurs did not insert a recall clause in the player’s deal, meaning he will see out the season at Elland Road.

Asked if Tottenham made a mistake in letting him go, Savage told TEAMtalk: “No, I don’t think so as the most important thing is for players to playing football and I don’t think, at the start of the season, Joe Rodon would have played many games for Spurs… That’s why they have let him go to a good club in Leeds.”

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Rodon was right to leave Tottenham

With Rodon featuring regularly for the Whites, Savage reckons the move to Elland Road has worked out perfectly.

“Leeds have enjoyed seven straight wins at home in the Championship and are really going places this season. Their latest win was a tense and exciting 3-2 win over improving Middlesbrough, with Rodon making a great block to prevent their 10 men equalising during the second half.

“He’s been brilliant for Leeds. He’s getting regular games of football, albeit at a Championship level!”

Explaining why Rodon would not have got game time at Tottenham this season, Planet Sport ambassador Savage added: “I look at [Cristian] Romero and [Micky] van der Ven and they have both been outstanding. In fact, the breaking up of their partnership has been the biggest reason, for me, behind their record of one point from their last four games.

“But Rodon just would not have expected games, nor could Ange Postecoglou guarantee them, if Rodon had stuck around.

“Hindsight is wonderful now with their injury and suspension problems that have affected them – and playing two full-backs [Ben Davies and Emerson Royal] at centre-half is not ideal – and if Joe Rodon was there, obviously, he might now have played.”

Farke has got the best out of Tottenham loanee at Leeds

Savage continued: “Joe Rodon could not have become the player he is today had he not been getting the game-time he’s been getting at Leeds. So the move to Leeds has been beneficial for him – Spurs would have considered all that about loan recalls, and I don’t know if there’s one in place, when they sent him out – but what I will say is that from Rodon’s point of view, he will want to continue doing that because of Wales’ play-off games. And if they can get to the Euros, it’s important for him to be playing regular football.

“He’s doing that at Leeds; I don’t think he does that at Spurs, so I don’t think Postecoglou is regretting it, but what they’ve got is a player playing outstandingly well in a team that is third in the Championship.

“It’s a win, win from Tottenham’s point of view. His contract there is up in 2025, meaning they either get an improved player back on their books next season, or they have an asset who they can make a lot of money from.”

Leeds are next in action on Saturday when they travel to face Blackburn at Ewood Park before they make the trip north to tackle managerless Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening.

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