Leandro Joaquín Rodríguez Telechea (born 19 November 1992) is a Uruguayan 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 ...
Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, Rodríguez began his career with
River Plate Montevideo
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
. He made his debut on 25 August 2012 in the season's first game, which was a 1–0 win over
Juventud de Las Piedras
Club Atlético Juventud is a sports club based in Las Piedras, Uruguay, Las Piedras, Canelones Department, Canelones, Uruguay. CA Juventud won promotion to the Primera División Uruguaya to start in August 2007.Estadio Saroldi. On 30 September he scored his first goal, which was the opener in a 2–0 home victory over
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. He ended his first season with three goals in 24 appearances.
On 17 August 2013, Rodríguez scored as River began the new season with a 4–2 win against reigning champions
CA Peñarol
CA most often refers to:
* Canada, a country by ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code
* California, U.S. state by postal abbreviation
CA or ca may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations Companies
* Air China (IATA airline code CA)
* CA Technologies, a U ...
at the
Estadio Centenario
Centenario Stadium (, ; , named after the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, centenary of Constitution of Uruguay, Uruguay's Constitution) is an association football stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. Located in the Parque Batlle, Parque Battle neig ...
. He scored again on 2 March 2014 in a 3–0 home win over Uruguay's other leading club,
Nacional
Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to:
Airlines
* Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002
* Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961
Bank
* Banco Nacional, a ...
. Three weeks later, as a 43rd-minute substitute for Jonathan Ramírez, Rodríguez scored the only goal in a victory against neighbourhood rivals Wanderers. On 11 May, he was sent off in a 0–2 home defeat to
Racing
In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...
, along with teammate
Sebastián Taborda
Sebastián Taborda Ramos (born 22 May 1981) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a centre forward.
Club career
Born in Montevideo, Taborda started playing professionally with Defensor Sporting, and went on to serve three ...
. His seven goals in 23 games in this second season helped the club qualify for the
2014 Copa Sudamericana
The 2014 Copa Sudamericana (officially the 2014 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Lanús were the ...
, where they were drawn against Ecuador's
Club Sport Emelec
Club Sport Emelec is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional association football, football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in th ...
in the
first stage First stage or First Stage may refer to:
* First Stage Children's Theater, a professional American children's theater based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* First stage (rocketry), the first stage of a multistage rocket
* the first reading of a bill in t ...
. In the second leg on 25 September, he equalised for a 1–1 draw, but River were eliminated 3–2 on aggregate.
The 2014–15 season was Rodríguez's most successful for River Plate. He scored nine goals in 23 games, including his first two-goal haul in a 4–0 home victory over
Rampla Juniors
Rampla Juniors Fútbol Club, commonly known as Rampla Juniors, is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The team was actively playing the 2021 season by January 2021. In their home stadium, Rampla won the Uruguayan championship in 1927. I ...
on 8 March 2015. Six days later, he hit the winner in a 2–1 victory over Nacional at
Estadio Gran Parque Central
The Estadio Gran Parque Central is the stadium of Club Nacional de Football. It is located in Montevideo, Uruguay, near Nacional headquarters (exactly between the streets Carlos Anaya, Jaime Cibils, General Urquiza and Comandante Braga), in the L ...
.
Everton
On 28 August 2015, Rodríguez signed a four-year contract with Everton of the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
for a reported fee of £500,000. Manager
Roberto Martínez
Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team.
Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...
said that he would likely be put into the first team due to his experience in top-flight football in his homeland. However, Rodríguez made his debut for the under-21 team on 7 September. In his debut, he would head in Ryan Ledson's cross to open a 3–0 home win over
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
in the
Lancashire Senior Cup
The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...
. Fifteen days later, he was included in the senior squad for the first time, but remained on the bench as an unused substitute in a 2–1 win away to
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
in the second round of the League Cup. Rodríguez made his Everton first team debut on 9 January 2016 in the third round of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
when he replaced
Aaron Lennon
Aaron Justin Lennon (; born 16 April 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right winger.
Lennon began his career at hometown club Leeds United, making his first-team debut in 2003 and becoming the youngest player t ...
for the final minute of a 2–0 win over
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...
at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
.
On 17 March 2016, Rodríguez joined
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
club
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
on a one-month
loan
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the deb ...
. He made his debut three days later in a 0–1 home loss to
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
when he played 76 minutes before being replaced by
Scott Hogan
Scott Andrew Hogan (born 13 April 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Milton Keynes Dons.
Hogan played in the youth system at Rochdale but was released in 2010. He entered non-league football, playing for Wood ...
. He suffered a pulled hamstring on his second appearance and returned to Goodison Park when his loan expired. On 31 January, he joined
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 ...
on loan.
Return to Latin America
In August 2017, Rodríguez left Everton and returned to Uruguay to join
Danubio
Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan association football, football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División.
Founded in 1945, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo Ma ...
. A year later, he joined fellow
Uruguayan Primera División
The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...
side
Torque
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...
.
After several months with
Racing Club de Montevideo
Racing Club de Montevideo is a professional football club from Montevideo in Uruguay. It currently participates in the Uruguayan Primera División since winning the Torneo Competencia in 2022.
Racing CM is known as "La Escuelita" (The Little Sc ...
, Rodríguez went abroad again in July 2019, joining
Alebrijes de Oaxaca
Alebrijes de Oaxaca Fútbol Club is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, that plays in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. T ...
in Mexico's
Ascenso MX
Ascenso MX, also known as Ascenso BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, was a professional association football league in Mexico and the second level of the Mexican football league system.
Formerly known as Primera División A de México (1994–2009 ...
.
Personal life
Rodríguez also holds an
Italian passport
An Italian passport () is issued upon request to an Italian nationality law, Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its Biometric passports, biometric version ...
. His older brother
Diego
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below.
...
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
and
Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...