'Long may it continue' - Leeds United summer transfer target loving life as a loanee

Norwich City are the latest visitors to Elland Road to face a Leeds team riding a four-game win streak in the Championship and FA Cup. Rodon and his loan club were unable to make it four consecutive clean sheets on Sunday against Preston North End but picked up another vital three points in their bid to keep the pressure on the second tier's top two. Norwich, though, are also looking up the table and hoping to catch the teams above them. They bring a five-game unbeaten streak of their own to Elland Road, having won each of their last three.

"We're in the second half of the season now, it's crunch time and we want to pick up as many points as we can," said Rodon. "Onto the next game, Norwich, they're a very good team and they're on a great run so it'll be a very difficult game, but we'll focus on that and hopefully put in another strong performance."

Strong performances are what Leeds fans have come to expect from Rodon this season. The Tottenham Hotspur loanee has scarcely put a foot wrong since arriving for a season-long stint in the Championship, making himself a regular, forming solid partnerships with Pascal Struijk and more recently Ethan Ampadu and keeping Leeds' homegrown talent Charlie Cresswell out of the team altogether.

Rodon credits the faith manager Daniel Farke has placed in him, which has allowed him to build momentum on a personal level and contribute to a largely impressive league record as a collective. His form has led to calls from the fanbase for Leeds to make his move a permanent one this month and Farke has admitted that work is ongoing in the background to keep Rodon at Elland Road, albeit with an eye on the summer rather than the January window. The German said: “Behind the scenes we are working. There is no doubt about this. We are more than happy with Joe and his performances. His development is great and you also see him growing into this club more and more and into a leader role w. When you see him in his every day work you see how much it means to him to wear this white shirt and defend this white shirt in the games, he's just happy to be here and happy to be an important part and crucial to our performances and development. For that we are more than happy and obviously we would like him to stay for a bit longer, but at the moment it's not an urgent topic. He will stay with us until the end of the season. That's the most important thing. Joe is in our plans definitely for sure but he's not our player yet so depending on what the other parties think about this topic we will definitely try behind the scenes to do our stuff and obviously you know how much I like and value Joe. He's important for us as a team."

Rodon himself appears to be perfectly happy in his temporary home. He said: "I think the more games you play the more confident and comfortable it becomes. I can only be grateful for the opportunities I've been given from the coach and I think I feel in a good place. Not just me, I feel like we've got a really good balanced team here and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Personally just loving every minute. Long may it continue."