Joao Leandro Rodríguez González (; born 19 May 1996) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for colombian club

Deportes Quindío Deportes Quindío is a Colombian professional football club based in Armenia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on 8 January 1951, and its best achievement was winning the 1956 league tournament. They play thei ...

. He was the first Colombian to sign for Chelsea.

Club career

Joao Rodríguez started part of his youth career with Colombian side

. Eventually, Joao caught the eye as a prolific striker in the junior ranks of national Colombian football. His performances at the 2011 South American Under-15 Championships caught the eye of scouts worldwide, including those of Chelsea. Joao spent two months on trial as an Under-16 and impressed enough to sign a pre-contract agreement for a five-year professional contract beginning on his seventeenth birthday. This made him the first Colombian in history to sign with the London club. As part of the agreement Rodríguez remained at

to play for the 2012–13 season. The player officially joined Chelsea for the start of the 2013/14 season. In January 2014, Rodríguez returned to Colombia to join Uniautónoma on loan for the remainder of the 2013/14 campaign. On 16 March 2014, Rodríguez made his Uniautónoma debut in a 4–2 victory against

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club (association football), football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their ...

, in which he played the full 90 minutes and scored in the 75th minute to give Uniautónoma a 3–0 lead. On 4 August 2014, Rodríguez joined French side

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

, managed at the time by former Chelsea player

Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He last managed Super League Greece club Astera ...

, on loan for the season. On 16 August 2014, Rodríguez made his Bastia debut in a 2–0 away defeat to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, replacing

Brandão Brandão (), in English sometimes ''Brandao'' (without the obligatory tilde), is a Portuguese language surname or given name and a place name. It may refer to: Places * Bueno Brandão, Brazil * Caldas Brandão, Brazil * Milton Brandão, Brazil * ...

with eighteen minutes remaining. On 8 January 2015, after only making four appearances at Bastia and failing to impress, Rodríguez's loan was terminated and therefore, he returned to Chelsea. On 2 February 2015, Rodríguez joined Portuguese side Vitória on loan for the remainder of the 2014–15 campaign along with Mexican team-mate

Ulises Dávila Ulises Alejandro Dávila Plascencia (born 13 April 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for A-League club Macarthur FC. Club career Guadalajara Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Dávila was champion ...

. However, Rodríguez failed to make an impression under manager

Bruno Ribeiro Bruno Miguel Fernandes Ribeiro (born 22 October 1975) is a Portuguese former football manager and player. A midfielder with a powerful left-foot strike, he began his playing career with hometown club Vitória Setúbal from 1994 to 1997, befo ...

and returned to Chelsea at the end of the campaign after failing to register a single appearance. On 2 August 2015, Rodríguez joined Belgian side

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. With more than 41,500 inhabitants, it is on ...

, on loan for the season. On 16 August 2015, Rodríguez made his Sint-Truiden debut in a 1–0 defeat to

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

, replacing

Yuji Ono is a Japanese jazz musician. Ohno is known for his musical scoring of Japanese anime television series, particularly ''Lupin III'', and most famously the 1977 series '' Lupin III Part II'' and the feature film ''The Castle of Cagliostro''. Ea ...

in the 74th minute. On 3 October 2015, Rodríguez made his only start for Sint-Truiden in a 3–1 defeat to

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

, in which he played just over an hour before being replaced by

Hilaire Momi Hilaire Roméo Verdi Momi (born 16 March 1990) is a Central African footballer who plays as a forward for SC Mouloudia Dakhla in Morocco. He made his international debut in Central African Republic's opening game at the 2007 CEMAC Cup, scori ...

. On 15 June 2016, Rodríguez joined Colombian side Santa Fe on loan for the 2016/17 campaign. On 18 July 2016, Rodríguez made his Santa Fe debut in a 2–1 defeat against

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

, in which he replaced Jonathan Gómez with thirteen minutes remaining. On 15 August 2016, Rodríguez was given his first Santa Fe start by manager

Gustavo Costas Gustavo Adolfo Costas Makeira (born 28 February 1963) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current head coach of Primera División club Racing Club. Costas' career is mainly linked to Rac ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 defeat against

Atlético Huila Atlético Huila is a professional Colombian association football, football team based in Neiva, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded in 1990, making it one of the youngest professional football clubs in Colombia. ...

. On 28 December 2016, it was announced by Santa Fe, that Rodríguez would return to Chelsea after a disappointing loan spell. On 6 January 2017, Rodríguez joined

Cortuluá Cortuluá, officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A. and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá for short, was a Colombian football club from Tuluá, Valle del Cauca Department. It was founded in 1967 and last played in Categ ...

on loan for the first half of the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

campaign. On 3 February 2017, Rodríguez made his Cortuluá debut in a 4–0 home defeat against

Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad ...

, featuring for seventy minutes before being replaced by Duvan Sánchez. On 1 July 2017, Rodríguez returned to Chelsea after appearing just five times during his loan spell at Cortuluá. On 5 September 2017, Rodríguez joined Mexican side

Tampico Madero Club Jaiba Brava, formerly known as Tampico Madero, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in Tampico and Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, that plays in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football ...

on a season-long loan. A month later, Rodríguez made his debut during a 1–0 away defeat to Juárez, replacing Diego Martínez in the 82nd minute. After three years without a goal, Rodríguez netted in Tampico Madero's 2–0 away victory against Venados, firing past

Armando Navarrete Armando Navarrete García (born 22 November 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Navarrete made his debut at the professional level in a game between Atlas and Puebla, on September 8, 2001. Nava ...

in the 84th minute. A week later, Rodríguez scored once again, rounding the goalkeeper to make it 3–0 during their league tie against

Atlante Atlante or Atlantes may refer to: * Atlantes, the plural of Atlas (architecture), an architectural support in the form of a man * Atlante San Alejo, a Salvadoran football club * Atlante F.C., a Mexican football club * Atlante (private equity fund) ...

. On 12 July 2018, Rodríguez joined Spanish second tier side

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

on a season-long loan. Rodríguez completed a move to Central Córdoba of the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

on a free transfer on 30 July 2019; six months after his release from Chelsea. He went onto feature 19 times all in competitions, scoring three goals before leaving the club for

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

outfit,

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

in July 2020, prior to a subsequent return to Colombia in March 2021, to join

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

. Between March and December 2021, Rodríguez went onto feature twenty-two times for América de Cali, scoring once before leaving to join fellow Categoría Primera A side, Jaguares in February 2022. After spells at Alvarado in Argentina and Los Chankas in Peru, it was confirmed on 29 November 2023, that Rodríguez would join Costa Rican side Municipal Grecia from the new year.

International career

Joao has represented Colombia in the U15 side and represented Colombia during the

2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship The 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship () was the 15th U-17 tournament for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was held in Argentina. This tournament gave four berths to the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was held in Uni ...

held in Argentina. He was given the number 10 shirt. He made his debut in a 1–1 tie of the opening match against Paraguay. Throughout the group stages, Joao led Colombia to goalless draws without creating an impact. Only in the final group stage match against Argentina did he finally score his first goal. However, Colombia lost the match 3–2 and were knocked out. Joao joined the U20 squad for the

2014 Toulon Tournament The 2014 Toulon Tournament was the 42nd edition of the Toulon Tournament. The competition took place between 21 May and 1 June 2014 mostly in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of South Eastern France. Brazil national under-20 football team, B ...

, where he scored his first goal in his debut against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

after being subbed in.

Career statistics

Club

References