Credit: Imago

James Barker

Mon 6 April 2026 12:40, UK

West Ham United look to have made a January transfer mistake with Guido Rodriguez, as the midfielder has made an excellent start since signing for Valencia.

The 31-year-old central midfielder signed for the Hammers in the summer of 2024, arriving on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract with Real Betis.

A 30-cap Argentine international, Rodriguez was part of the Argentina team that lifted the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and as such, arrived at the London Stadium with serious pedigree.

He would endure an inconsistent debut 2024-25 season with the Hammers though, starting 16 of his 23 Premier League appearances, struggling to hold down a place in the XI.

And so, after making just eight appearances in all competitions during the first half of this season, Rodriguez left West Ham on a permanent transfer on 26 January.

How well has Guido Rodriguez started for Valencia?

Rodriguez was out of contract this summer, meaning the chance for West Ham to bag a fee for him was too good an opportunity to turn down given his disappointing 18 months as a Hammer.

However, it was also a gamble, as not only is he vastly experienced at domestic and international level, Nuno Espirito Santo doesn’t have an abundance of options in central midfield either.

That lack of strength in depth has come back to bite his side in recent weeks, with both Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts largely struggling when called up on.

Given how poor Rodriguez was for West Ham, there won’t have been too many Irons fans fearing that possibility of regret over his transfer exit, but that may well be the sentiment felt when looking at the numbers he’s putting up in Spain.

He’s so far made eight La Liga appearances for Valencia since arriving in January, with six of those being as part of the starting XI.

Easter Sunday saw Carlos Corberan’s side lose 3-2 to Celta Vigo, but it was Rodriguez who scored both of Valencia’s goals, capping off a brilliant start to life back in La Liga for him.

As per Sofascore, he’s recorded a goal conversion of 25 per cent, enjoyed a pass success rate of 86 per cent with 91 per cent accuracy inside his own half, as well as winning 3.0 tackles per game too.

He’s also made zero errors leading to shots or goals, has a dribble success rate of 57 per cent, has won 60 per cent of his ground duels and 57 per cent of his aerial duels respectively.

However, Rodriguez has conceded one penalty for Valencia, which has taken a slight shine off his otherwise superb start.

Rodriguez would be in West Ham’s starting XI right now

Nuno has been shuffling the deck in his midfield engine room over the last couple of games, in an attempt to try and find a winning recipe.

Against Leeds in the FA Cup quarter-final, he pushed Mateus Fernandes into an attacking midfield role, with Magassa and Potts operating as the two deeper-lying central midfielders, but that partnership didn’t really work.

In the 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa, meanwhile, he opted to go with a 4-3-3, that saw a midfield trio of Fernandes, Potts and Tomas Soucek, but that didn’t stop Villa running all over the Hammers at Villa Park.

So, given how he’s started with Valencia, there’s surely every chance Rodriguez would be getting the nod over both of Magassa and Potts at the moment.