Rodrygo Goes: Player profile of the Arsenal-linked Real Madrid forward (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
We’re hearing a lot about Real Madrid wide-forward Rodrygo Goes at the moment as his future could be in some doubt this summer.
The Brazil international has been widely reported as being a target for Arsenal, so who is he, what are his attributes, and how likely does a summer move look for him?
Who is Rodrygo Goes? Background and early career
Rodrygo, whose full name is Rodrygo Silva de Goes, was born in Osasco in Sao Paulo in 2001, and was on the books at Santos by the age of ten.
After rising up Santos’ academy, Rodrygo eventually became a regular for their first-team. He signed his first professional contract in July 2017 and made his senior debut later that year.
In the end, Rodrygo scored 17 goals in 80 games for Santos before he was unsurprisingly snapped up by Real Madrid, who recognised a clear wonderkid and paid close to £40m for him, as reported by Sky Sports at the time.
Rodrygo linked up with Real Madrid in 2019 and it took him a little while to find his feet, but he scored a hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League, making him the second youngest player to do so in the competition’s history.
Rodrygo Goes warming up for Brazil (Photo by Wagner Meier/Getty Images)
Career statistics and playing style
Rodrygo was eased into the Real Madrid starting XI quite slowly, but it’s fair to say he eventually established himself as a key player for Los Blancos.
It’s only really in the season just gone that he started playing less often, leading to some uncertainty about his future at the club.
Capable of playing out wide or up front, it seems there’s major doubt about the 24-year-old fitting in to the new tactical set-up of incoming manager Xabi Alonso, according to the Independent.
His stats would surely make him tempting to Arsenal and other top clubs, though…
