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Rodrigo has opened up on the reasons for his strong recent form and made a confident declaration about how Leeds United will fare upon returning from the World Cup break.

Leeds spent a club record £27m to sign Rodrigo from Valencia in August 2020 but injury issues and Covid limited the forward to just 14 Premier League starts in his first season with the Whites in which he netted seven times as part of 26 outings in total.

The Spanish international managed 27 league starts last season and 33 appearances in all as part of a campaign in which he netted six goals – with three of those strikes coming in United's last ten games. But the record signing then started the current campaign with an almighty bang in scoring four goals in United's first three games and a temporary lull has been followed by another five goals from the last four Leeds games before the World Cup.

Having netted seven in his first season at Leeds and six last term, the forward is already on nine goals for the current campaign, a tally which has the 31-year-old sat joint-fourth in the Premier League's top goal scorer charts. That, though, says Rodrigo, is down several factors rather than one single catalyst upon his third season at Elland Road. Speaking on the Official Leeds United Podcast, Rodrigo was asked whether his form was down to Whites boss Jesse Marsch, feeling more settled or a combination of everything.

'VARIABLES': All contributing to the fine form of Leeds United's record signing Rodrigo, above, pictured netting what was his seventh goal of the season in November's 4-3 victory at home to Bournemouth. Photo by Harriet Lander/Getty Images.

"The combination of loads of things,” said the in-form attacker. "We are playing a collective sport, we have lots of variables and it's difficult to say just one thing. The most important thing is that you have to keep working hard every time and things just start going naturally."

Assessing his tally of nine goals so far and making a confident declaration about the second half of the season, Rodrigo said: "I am happy for my performance but the most important thing here is the team and winning games and that's what we want to do now. I think maybe we deserve a bit more than what we have now but that's football and we have to prepare ourselves really well for this second part of the season. I am completely sure that we are going to do a good job."

Rodrigo reveals reasons for improved Leeds United form and gives 'sure' declaration on season