Joe Rodon – Tottenham Hotspur

Joe Rodon – Player Profile

Joe Rodon, standing at 6ft 4in, is a central defender who signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Swansea City on 16^th October 2020 for a fee in the region of £11m. The Wales international signed a 5 year contract with the club. He is currently on loan at Ligue 1 (French Top Flight) club Stade Rennais for the duration of the 2022/23 season.

The central defender started his career with boyhood club Swansea City, whom he joined at the age of 8 in 2005. He went on to sign his first professional contract with the Swans in July 2015 before being named in the first team squad that faced Oxford United in an FA Cup tie in January 2016.

Rodon played most of his football initially with the club’s U23s team. He was captain in a Papa John’s Trophy victory against then League Two (Fourth Tier) side Cheltenham Town, winning 2-1. He made a Premier League squad for the first time with Swansea City in a match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium that same season.

He would spend the remainder of the 2017/18 season on loan with the Robins, making 12 appearances for the club in England’s fourth tier. Gary Johnson’s side went on to finish in 17^th place with 51 points.

In August 2018, Rodon was handed his Swansea City first team debut, playing in a Championship (Second Tier) match against Preston North End which the Swans won 1-0 in the end. He went on to make 28 appearances for the Welsh Club in all competitions over the course of the 2018/19 season, finishing in 10^th place in the Championship with 65 points, 9 adrift of the promotion play-off spots.

The central defender continued to be a regular for Swansea the following season (2019/20), making 21 appearances for the club in all competitions. Steve Cooper’s side finished in 6^th place with 70 points, but lost 3-2 on aggregate to Brentford.

During that same season, Joe Rodon earned his first senior cap for Wales, beating Azerbaijan 2-1 in a Euros qualifier. At the time of writing, he has 35 caps in total.

After making 5 appearances for Swansea City at the start of the 2020/21 season, he made the move to Tottenham Hotspur for a rumoured fee of £11m. His debut was impressive, helping his team keep a clean sheet against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

He went on to make 14 appearances for the Lilywhites that season, helping the club finish 7^th in the Premier League with 62 points, qualifying for the Europa Conference League.

Joe Rodon didn’t play as regularly for Spurs last season (2021/22), but the central defender still made 10 appearances in all competitions. It was a much more successful season in the Premier League for Tottenham that season, finishing 4^th to secure qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

Unfortunately, Spurs were knocked out of the Europa Conference League after finishing 3^rd in a group containing Mura (Slovenia – 4^th), Vitesse Arnhem (Netherlands – 2^nd) and Stade Rennais (France – 1^st).

Rodon was sent out on loan to Ligue 1 Club Stade Rennais for the duration of the 2022/23 season, and he has made 20 appearances for the club in all competitions.