Everton have completed the signing of River Plate Montevideo Leandro Rodriguez for an undisclosed fee.
The highly rated 22-year-old has signed a four-year deal with Roberto Martinez’s men after impressing club scouts in his native Uruguay.
Rodriguez, who netted 19 times in 71 games for River, will now become the first Uruguayan to play for Everton, and is expected to go straight into Martinez’s first team squad.
“He’s a young talent – one of those elite, talented youngsters who we like to bring in… a young striker with a real knack of scoring goals, said the Catalan in an interview with the Goodison club’s official site.
“But he’s much more than that, too. His contribution is a lot more than that and hopefully we can provide a path where he can develop and enjoy his football. If he can do that, clearly that’s going to bring goals to the first team.
“He probably won’t [need time with the Under-21s] because he has played enough games with his first team in Uruguay in a really competitive league.“If you look at the amount of strikers that come through those environments, you don’t get surprised about the quality of these players.
“I am not saying that to put pressure on the boy, but he is a player we can be very much excited about in the future.”
