Middlesbrough supporters will be shocked at £50m Fulham, Leeds United transfer claims | OneFootball

Rodrigo Muniz has been valued at £50 million by Fulham, but was overly disappointing at the Riverside

Rodrigo Muniz has been targeted by Leeds United to be their new talisman going into the 2025/26 Premier League season, and for good reason, it seems.

The 24-year-old was primarily used from the bench this past season at Fulham, with Raul Jimenez starting the majority of Premier League games. Having said that, however, Muniz still managed to end the season with eight league goals, the third most for Marco Silva's side.

Per Fotmob, Muniz ended the season with the third-best goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League last season. Only Jhon Duran, who left Aston Villa in January, and Mohamed Salah scored more. As a result, newly promoted Leeds are "eyeing a big-money move" for the Brazilian, according to Pete O'Rourke.

The Cottagers value Muniz at £50 million and, according to Dean Jones, might look to keep him and offer a new, improved contract to replace the one which runs out in 2026, albeit with Fulham holding an option to extend that for a further 12 months.

A price tag that large may shock some Leeds fans, but it'll likely shock Middlesbrough fans more, after they were left heavily disappointed by the Brazilian during his loan spell at the Riverside just a few seasons ago.

Rodrigo Muniz's time at Middlesbrough will leave fans baffled about £50 million price tag

Rodrigo Muniz was most definitely not a £50 million-rated player when he joined Middlesbrough on loan during the 2022/23 season, nor did he show any signs of perhaps being one in the future during his time at the club.

Muniz secured Championship promotion with Fulham in his first season at the club, but started just twice. He was seen as a prospect signing with the potential to become a Premier League-level player in the future, but not just yet. Therefore, he was loaned back out to the Championship.

Then-Boro boss Chris Wilder snapped at the opportunity to bring him in on loan, and his short time at the Riverside started positively with two goals in his first four league games. However, those were to be the only two goals he scored in a Boro shirt.

He was still a regular in the squad under Wilder, but when he was sacked, Muniz's game time immediately slowed, and after Michael Carrick was brought in on October 24, the Fulham loanee started just one more league game for the Teessiders.

A knee issue took him out of action between January and April, but even upon his return, he featured once more from the bench against Luton Town and then missed the rest of the season, not even being named in the matchday squad for either of their play-off semi-final legs against Coventry City.

Muniz was left to return to Fulham after a largely discouraging spell, but a mere two years later, the 24-year-old is being valued by his current club at £50 million, something which Middlesbrough fans definitely wouldn't have expected as his time at the Riverside drew to a close.

Rodrigo Muniz's rapid growth after returning from Middlesbrough loan spell

Rodrigo Muniz continued his bad luck from the back end of his 2022/23 loan spell at Middlesbrough into the start of the following Premier League season, playing just 25 minutes in the opening eight games.

His first Premier League start came during the 11th game of the season, and in that match, he suffered a knee injury which kept him out for a month.

But, as the calendar ticked into 2024, something seemed to tick in Muniz, too, and it was then that he became a Premier League regular.

Scoring nine in 15 starts towards the end of the Premier League season, Muniz looked to be tapping into his potential a bit more. And despite starting just eight games in the league during the 2024/25 term, he still managed eight goals.

Muniz has shown the potential to be a quality line-leader for a Premier League side, hence why Leeds are showing interest.

But for £50 million? Time will tell. One thing is for certain, though, Middlesbrough fans did not see this coming two years ago.