Leeds United defender Robin Koch likes idea of facing off against fellow Whites new boy Rodrigo in Germany's clash with Spain
Robin Koch hopes to meet fellow Leeds United weekend signing Rodrigo on the pitch this week, as Germany take on Spain in Nations League action in Stuttgart.
The Whites announced both men on Saturday, starting with the news that they had smashed their transfer record to bring €30m attacker Rodrigo from Valencia.
Koch’s move from SC Freiburg was confirmed later in the day, for an undisclosed fee in the region of €13m.
The two internationals join up with their respective national teams this week to prepare for Thursday’s game and Koch was quite taken with the idea of their first bonding session coming in a competitive game, on opposing sides.
“It will be cool when we play against each other next week with the national team and then some days later we play here together at Leeds,” said the 24-year-old central defender, after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal.
“I think he’s a top player.
“To play for the Spanish national team you have to be a top player and he plays in La Liga. It’ll be cool.”
Koch trained alone at Thorp Arch yesterday in his first taste of life under Marcelo Bielsa, before travelling for international duty today.
A number of his new team-mates, including Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper, Mateusz Klich, Gjanni Alioski and Stuart Dallas, are all in Nations League action this week with their respective nations. Phillips is hoping for an England debut against Iceland on Saturday after receiving his first ever international call up last week. Tyler Roberts has withdrawn from the Wales squad as a precautionary measure.