5 great LaLiga players who do not play for the big three

#4 Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia)

Valencia v Bayer Leverkusen - Pre-Season Friendly

Something of a late bloomer, Rodrigo is another player to leave Real Madrid at a young age and work his way up elsewhere. But unlike his teammate Dani Parejo, Rodrigo has always been marked as a wonderful talent – it just hasn’t shown itself until now.

It was while he was at Benfica that the forward showed what a prospect he was. 45 goals in 119 appearances was nothing to sneer at for a player with his peak years in front of him. Valencia duly splashed the cash – a reported £25m – to sign him in 2015.

Unfortunately, Valencia’s troubles under various coaches created the wrong environment for Rodrigo to show what he can truly do. 13 goals in two seasons was far from the return on investment expected.

Then, Marcelino arrived, and everything changed.

Rodrigo’s goalscoring improved overnight. 19 goals last season, his best individual season, was enough to get him into the Spain squad for the 2018 World Cup.

The left-footed forward will now be looking to repeat last season’s heroics and really establish himself as a top forward.