It looked as if Guido Rodriguez’s West Ham United career would end as it began following the Carabao Cup collapse at Wolves on Tuesday night.
With another underwhelming performance from a midfielder who, while previously one of the most effective defensive midfielders in Spain during his time at Real Betis, simply lacks the mobility to last the pace in the Premier League.
Guido Rodriguez immediately looked about as ill-fitting as a parka in Peru when touching down at the London Stadium in the summer of 2024.
One year on, as Upton Park legend Tony Gale put it, it was a ‘lazy’ Rodriguez blunder which cost West Ham dear as a dismal start to the season continued in the Black Country. Caught square on against Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, the Argentina international threw out the most reckless of dangling legs inside the penalty area.
A leg Bellegarde was only too happy to tumble over before Rodrigo Gomes converted beyond a hapless, helpless Alphonse Areola.
A quite appropriate end, perhaps, for a West Ham United career which looked doomed from day one. Well, that was the plan.
Unfortunately, while a return to Mexico already looks highly unlikely, reports from Spain now suggest that a La Liga homecoming has also hit the buffers.
Espanyol ‘cool’ Guido Rodriguez interest as West Ham United sale stalls
Three weeks have now passed since Hammers News reported that West Ham were hoping to move a handful of players out the door. Flash forward to August 28th, Tomas Soucek, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri and Guido Rodriguez are all still in East London.
Emerson is in talks to join Marseille, at least, while David Moyes’ Everton are chasing Soucek. One of the most predictable links of entire the transfer window, there.
But with Guido Rodriguez, are West Ham destined to find themselves dragged back to square one?
A source told Hammers News only a few days ago that Rodriguez was likely to leave the London Stadium before the deadline. But, in a very unwelcome development, Espanyol suddenly switched their focus to another deep-lying midfield target
Catalonian publication 3Cat claim that Espanyol’s interest in West Ham’s number 24 is ‘cooling down’. Barcelona’s near neighbours have just completed the signing of their top Rodriguez alternative. Charles
Pickel’s switch from Cremonese to Espanyol leaving the Hammers in, well, a pickle.
Manuel Pellegrini coy on Real Betis return but Club America ruled out
El Crack Deportivo reported that Espanyol were one of three clubs willing to stump up the £6 million West Ham want. As Real Betis, one of the other three teams in the conversation, only time will tell.
Former Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini was extremely coy when asked about Rodriguez after the weekend’s 1-0 win over Deportivo Alaves, even if he did confirm that Real Betis are in the market for a defensive midfielder.
“The first thing is that I haven’t mentioned Guido’s name in any press conference,” Pellegrini told Estadio Deportivo. “I’ve never spoken about names that could come or go, so that’s speculation.
“It’s press stuff, and I’m not aware of any of it.
“[But] I gave my opinion, that I think we’re missing someone for that position, and we’ll see if we can bring him in or not. And, if we can bring someone in, [it must be] a good reinforcement.”
Another of Rodriguez’s old employers, Club America, were the third club thrown into the mix by El Crack Deportivo.
But, as ESPN reporter Leon Lecanda explains, there is currently no place in the Club America squad for another foreign-born player.
Due to local regulations, the Liga MX outfit cannot register Dutch winger Javairo Dilrosun at present. Rodriguez, if he was to re-join a team he represented between 2017 and 2020, would find himself stuck in the same limbo.
