Sourced from Daily Echo article
Rodriguez completes £14m move
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Jay Rodriguez has ended five years at St Mary’s by completing a £14m move to West Brom.
The Saints striker has been allowed to move on after telling the club he wanted a fresh start.
Baggies boss Tony Pulis has been a long-time admirer of Rodriguez, and came close to signing him twice in recent times.
On this occasion he has finally landed his man with the 27-year-old bringing down the curtain on his time at Saints.
The Daily Echo understands that it was agreed that it would be in everybody’s best interests for Rodriguez to move on to try and get his career going again.
If he were to have remained at Saints then he would have been behind Manolo Gabbiadini and Charlie Austin in the pecking order with Shane Long and Sam Gallagher, who has just signed a new long-term contract with the club, also as direct competition.
Rodriguez believes he desperately needs to be playing on a regular basis if he is to stand any chance of reviving former glories, and West Brom have offered him that opportunity.
He joined Saints from Burnley for £7m in 2012, and really made a name for himself in the 2013/14 season under Mauricio Pochettino, where he scored 17 goals and earned to date his only England cap.
Rodriguez seemed on the verge of a place in the World Cup squad but was cut down in his prime when he tore his cruciate ligament in a game against Manchester City at the start of April 2014.
A number of complications followed his initial surgery, which meant he was ruled out for around 16 months.
Several comebacks came and went, with Rodriguez also requiring surgery on a foot injury.
Last season he was reduced to being a bit part squad player, and the prospects for next season were even bleaker with less games likely due to the club’s failure to qualify for European football.
That led Saints to agree to the player’s request to move on as a gesture of goodwill for his time and effort with the club.
However, they have also managed to negotiate a good deal for the player with £14m seen at the club as representing decent value for somebody on the fringes of the squad.
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