19-goal, 15-assist attacker on transfer radar of Derby County, Cardiff City, Portsmouth, Barnsley and Oxford United | OneFootball

Notts County did it the hard way, but they took their deserving place in League Two for the 2023-24 season after going at it with Wrexham in the regular National League campaign before getting past Chesterfield in the play-off final.

Macaulay Langstaff will no doubt get the majority of the plaudits for his obscene goalscoring record after netting 41 times, but another player who stood out in the final third was Ruben Rodrigues.

The 26-year-old scored 19 times in the National League last season, as well as adding 15 assists to his impressive tally, as he featured both as a striker and in his more natural role of an attacking midfielder.

Those performances have not gone unnoticed though, as Football Insider claim that a whole host of EFL clubs are wanting to sign the Portuguese maestro this summer.

There is interest from the Championship in the form of Cardiff City, whilst in League One there are plenty of clubs willing to sign Rodrigues this summer, including Portsmouth, Derby County, Oxford United and play-off final runners-up Barnsley.

Who is Ruben Rodrigues?

Rodrigues has certainly had an unconventional route into professional football, playing in the junior ranks in the Netherlands after moving there from Portugal as a child before signing for Dutch second tier side Den Bosch in 2018 from amateur club VV Gemert.

Following a loan spell at De Treffers, Rodrigues returned to Den Bosch for the 2019-20 season and was prolific, scoring 12 times and notching 10 assists for the club, and was then snapped up by Notts County for their second season in the National League.

At County, Rodrigues has scored 51 league goals in 125 appearances but his time at the club could be coming to an end despite winning promotion with the Magpies last month.

Having signed for County in 2020 on a three-year contract from Den Bosch, Rodrigues is set to be out of contract this summer.

Naturally, the only hope that the Magpies had of keeping him was by winning promotion back to the EFL, and they duly delivered on that.

However, with a mountain of interest in his services on a bargain free transfer, it looks as though head coach Luke Williams could be resigned to losing the talented playmaker from his ranks this summer.

If he's replaced with David McGoldrick though, should the experienced Republic of Ireland international accept the club's offer that is on the table to return home, then it will be a lot easier to take should Rodrigues move elsewhere.