Leeds have completed the double signing of forward Rodrigo from Valencia and Freiburg defender Robin Koch.
Rodrigo, 29, became Leeds’ new record signing when his reported £30million deal was confirmed on Saturday morning and the club announced Koch, 24, had completed his move to Elland Road for an undisclosed fee in the evening.
Spain international Rodrigo and Germany centre-half Koch have both signed four-year contracts and will now join up with their respective country’s senior squads for next month’s Nations League games.
Rodrigo and Koch are Leeds’ first marquee signings since they won promotion back to the Premier League last season for the first time since 2004.
“I’m really excited and very happy to join the club in this important season for all of us,” Rodrigo told the club’s Twitter account.
“Since the first time Victor (Orta, director of football) talked to me I knew I wanted this new challenge with Leeds.
“I will be working with one of the best coaches (Marcelo Bielsa) in football, he has done important things in different clubs and I’m excited to learn.”
Rodrigo, who has Premier League experience after spending the 2010-11 season on loan at Bolton, had spells at Celta Vigo and Real Madrid as a youngster before moving to Benfica.
He netted 27 times in 67 games and was a losing finalist in the Europa League in 2013 and 2014 before joining Valencia.
In his six seasons with Valencia, Rodrigo scored 59 goals in 220 appearances and won the Copa del Rey in 2019.
He was born in Brazil but is a Spain international and has played 22 times, scoring eight goals.
He scored 10 goals for club and country in 38 games last season, including the winner in Valencia’s 1-0 Champions League win at Chelsea in September.
Koch, who is 6ft 4in, appeared in all bar two of Freiburg’s Bundesliga matches last season as they finished in eighth place.
He started out at Eintracht Trier and moved on to hometown club Kaiserslautern in 2015 before sealing a move to the Bundesliga with Freiburg in 2017.
Koch made 81 appearances in all competitions for Freiburg and made his senior debut for Germany in October 2019 in a friendly against Argentina.
Leeds won the Sky Bet Championship title by a 10-point margin and have since turned the loan spells of winger Helder Costa and goalkeeper Illan Meslier into permanent deals.
They have also signed a number of highly-rated young players to boost their Under-23s squad, plus teenage striker Joe Gelhardt from Wigan.
“I’ve signed for Leeds and I’m very happy,” Koch said. “The Premier League is one of the biggest in the world, wherever you go on holiday, everyone knows the Premier League.
“To play with Leeds in the Premier League is a big dream. First game against Liverpool – there’s nothing else to say.”
