Twenty-year record shows how far Leeds United have been from big time but Rodrigo signing backs up Andrea Radrizzani's talk - David Prutton

Leeds have put in good, but modest work in the transfer window so far with a lot of investing for the future.

But you just felt that to lead the line or to help the line, somebody of Rodrigo’s type of calibre with his type of name and his type of CV would get the fans extremely excited.

I am sure the message boards have been going crazy with the potential for him leading the line.

Smashing a transfer record that has been there for the best part of two decades shows how far away from it Leeds United have been but how much they feel that they are back amongst the big boys by paying out such an amount. I think if you are a Leeds fan you’d almost have to pinch yourself a bit.

When the powers that be invested in Leeds there was a lot of talk of ‘if we get to the Premier League’. Now they have got to it they are maybe just maybe following up on their word and to be fair to them they have been true to their word since they came into the football club and I think this reaffirms it.

Now comes the easiest but also the hardest part – going out and scoring the goals that help propel Leeds on in the Premier League.

Rodrigo sounds like the sort of player who can play anywhere across the front line, centrally or out wide, and that reflects nicely on what Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa likes from the majority of his squad. He seems to like players who are multifaceted and adaptable.

Rodrigo will be under no illusions of what is expected of him which will be seriously hard work from him leading the line. If he is starting on either side it’s how he evolves with that regardless of who is playing up front in the striker role.

This is going back a bit but we saw Kemar Roofe play up front but we also saw him play as a number 10 and also out wide and I think the days of coming to Leeds United and saying you have got one position are probably in the past.

The transfer fee is obviously a lot of money but a lot of transfer fees are slightly arbitrary. I was looking at Ebere Eze going to Palace for nearly £20m and he has never set foot in the Premier League.

Then there is talk of Brighton selling Ben White for a price as high as you like and I am not saying that is without rhyme or reason and obviously the intricacies will be very different to that.

But if that’s the price that has been mooted or been agreed on then that’s just what they are going to have to pay for the player.

Rodrigo has international experience with Spain and vast experience with the clubs that he has played for in a league that is not as competitive as the Premier League. I don’t think it’s as competitive as the Championship.

But his experience of top-level football will obviously stand him in very good stead and he will have to hit the ground running in, this, the strangest of seasons without fans.

That’s the unfortunate thing about it because if Rodrigo does approach it properly and in a way that will endear him to Leeds fans then they will absolutely love him to bits.

At the other end of the pitch, Brighton have said they will not sell Ben White to Leeds which is fair enough and that’s their prerogative.

Obviously that shuts the door on a player that has been outstanding for Leeds and very much part of why they got promoted but therein lies football. He’s Brighton’s asset and unless Leeds go back in with something ridiculous then given the possibility of a relegation battle then Brighton are not going to sell are they?

SC Freiburg defender Robin Koch appears to be the alternative Leeds are going for and we will soon see if he is a good alternative. The proof will be in the pudding.

The first port of call is whether a player from a different country can play football in England and forgive me for being stereotypical, but we have seen with German players that they have been typically robust in English football. Physically they understand the demands and culturally there are differences and the nuances but fundamentally there is not a huge chasm of difference between the two cultures.

After that it will be about him as a young professional footballer getting the opportunity to play for a club the size of Leeds United and not only the challenge of proving yourself to the fans and the club but also filling the gap left by Ben. It’s a sizable one but absolutely not insurmountable.

If Koch is signed then Leeds will have strengthened big name wise at both ends of the pitch and somewhere in the middle you’ve got to think it would be worth having an addition such as a goalscoring midfielder. But they are few and far between and will cost a premium.

Whether that is realistic remains to be seen but you wouldn’t have thought Rodrigo would have been a name that came up too quickly but it did.

It shows that Leeds are doing their due diligence. They have not done bad business so far and now, in Kalvin Phillips, they have also got a potential England international within their ranks too. It's a good time to be Leeds.