Premier League big-spenders Chelsea and Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing Uruguayan starlet Luciano Rodriguez from Liverpool Montevideo.
According to HITC, Chelsea and Manchester City are keeping close tabs on Uruguayan striker talent Luciano Rodriguez, who has been making strides in his development at Liverpool Montevideo.
Rodriguez’s name has risen to prominence over the last year or so as a result of his exploits with Uruguay’s youth national teams. He was his country’s hero at the Under-20 World Cup, as he scored the winning goal in the final against Italy to help Uruguay lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
The 20-year-old has also performed admirably for Uruguay’s U-23s, scoring six goals in as many games, and was nominated to the country’s CONMEBOL Olympic qualifier squad in January. Uruguay, despite Rodriguez’s hat-trick against Paraguay and goals against Peru and Argentina, failed to advance.
On the domestic front, Rodriguez joined Liverpool Montevideo in 2023 after coming through the ranks at Progreso. Having netted 11 goals in 38 competitive games for Montevideo so far, he notably scooped the Uruguayan League’s Young Player of the Year and was also named in the Team of the Year for 2023.
Needless to say, he is regarded as one of the best players in his position for his age in South America, making a move to Europe likely in the not-too-distant future.
As such, reigning Eredivisie champions Feyenoord tried and failed with an offer to land his services, while MLS outfit Charlotte FC suffered the same more recently despite their willingness to shell out a club-record sum, and one of MLS’ highest-ever transfer fees.
Manchester City and Chelsea join Luciano Rodriguez race
The striker has now drawn interest from elite Premier League clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City, as per HITC.
Given Manchester City’s reputation as one of the premier clubs for nurturing young talent worldwide, the Citizens are eager to enhance their attacking options with the addition of Rodriguez, having lost the likes of Cole Palmer, and Riyad Mahrez last summer.
Adding him to Pep Guardiola’s squad should make it stronger, but they already have two elite strikers in Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez, and the youngster will fear the intense competition for a starting place, which could scupper the move for the Sky Blues.
As for Chelsea, their woes in the final third have been evident despite a recent uptick in form, and their finishing ultimately let them down in Sunday’s EFL Cup final defeat to Liverpool. However, gambling on yet another expensive, but inexperienced young talent similar to Nicolas Jackson’s profile may not be the wisest of decisions.
