Early years Born in
Soria,
Castile and León, Rodri grew up in
Dos Hermanas,
Province of Seville, where he was discovered by
Sevilla FC scouts, thus entering the
Andalusians' youth ranks. In 2009, he helped the
Juvenil side win the
Copa del Rey in the category after defeating
Athletic Bilbao 3–2 in
extra time, with two goals from the player.
Sevilla Rodri played the vast majority of his first year as a senior with
Sevilla Atlético, in the
Segunda División B. He was first called to the first team for the
2009–10 UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie against
PFC CSKA Moscow, but did not leave
the bench. Eventually, on 28 February 2010, he made his debut for the main squad – in
La Liga – playing three minutes in a 0–0 home draw with
Athletic Bilbao after having replaced
Renato;
Manolo Jiménez was the club's manager. Rodri's second game came almost three months later, in the last round of
the season, playing the last ten minutes at
UD Almería: in the 93rd minute,
Frédéric Kanouté passed to
Jesús Navas, who crossed the ball to the box. After a failed attempt by
Sébastien Squillaci, the youngster scored the 3–2 winner through a
bicycle kick. With this victory, Sevilla edged
RCD Mallorca for the fourth place, thus
returning to the
UEFA Champions League; the player's performance was subsequently praised in the local press.
Barcelona Rodri was acquired by
FC Barcelona Atlètic on 16 August 2011, signing a four-year contract. He made his official debut 11 days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 home loss against
Villarreal CF B in the
Segunda División. Rodri was loaned to
Sheffield Wednesday for
2012–13, with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the campaign. He netted in his official debut, a 3–2 home win over
Birmingham City in the
Football League Championship. On 31 January 2013, Rodri returned to Barcelona, being immediately loaned to
Real Zaragoza for the rest of
the season and with the
Aragonese having the option to extend a further year. He scored the first of his two league goals on 30 March, opening the 1–1 home draw with
Real Madrid, but his team eventually suffered relegation as last. Rodri joined fellow second-division side Almería in a
season-long loan on 11 July 2013. He made his debut for them on 19 August, starting and scoring twice but in a 3–2 home loss to
Villarreal CF, then proceeded to net five more times in the following 12 matches, including the game's only against
Real Valladolid and
CA Osasuna. On 28 November 2013, Rodri suffered an injury in his right
ankle, returning to the squad weeks later. However, on 11 December he suffered a
sprain in his left ankle, being again sidelined until 22 February of the following year when he played the last 19 minutes of a 0–0 home draw against
Málaga CF.
1860 Munich Late in August 2014, Rodri joined German club
TSV 1860 Munich, signing a contract until 2017. He made his
2. Bundesliga debut on 20 September, replacing compatriot
Edu Bedia at the hour mark of a 1–1 home draw against
FC Ingolstadt 04. Rodri scored his first goal on 20 March 2015, after an
assist by
Korbinian Vollmann in a 1–1 draw with
VfR Aalen also at the
Allianz Arena. On 4 August, he was loaned to
Real Valladolid of the Spanish second tier in a
season-long deal.
Later career On 27 July 2016, shortly after cutting ties with TSV by mutual consent, Rodri returned to his homeland and penned a one-year contract with
Córdoba CF. He continued competing in the second division in the following seasons, with
Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa and
Granada CF. On 16 October 2019,
free agent Rodri signed a short-term deal with
Bristol City lasting until January 2020, with the option of an extension until 30 June. He returned to his homeland shortly after, joining
Real Oviedo of division two for six months. After a shoulder injury in a September 2020
friendly, Rodri missed the first 13 matches of the
new season for Oviedo, returning on 24 November away to
CD Lugo. After six months without a team, he dropped into the third tier for the first time in 11 years, signing with
UD Logroñés of the new
Primera Federación for the remainder of
the campaign on 31 January 2022. Having not scored during his spell in
La Rioja, Rodri remained in the same league by moving to
AD Ceuta FC on 8 November 2022. He scored on his debut as a second-half substitute four days later, the only goal in the
first round of the
Copa del Rey at
CD Utrera; he added another in a 3–2 home win over second-tier
UD Ibiza in the next round and then the only one of a defeat of top-flight
Elche CF also at the
Estadio Alfonso Murube on 3 January, putting the club in the last 16 for the first time in their history. He ended the
league season as top scorer with 20 goals from 24 games, including a
hat-trick on 26 February in a 3–1 away victory against
Pontevedra CF. Rodri split the
2023–24 campaign between
Real Murcia CF and Ceuta, still in division three. ==International career==