Alejandro Gomes Rodríguez is a Venezuelan born striker who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France. He currently represents England in youth international football, having lived in Southampton from the age of ten until he moved to Lyon aged sixteen. He is also eligible to represent both Venezuela and Portugal and has been involved with both countries at youth level in the past.
Born in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in 2008, he began playing football aged five, and hoped to one day move to Europe to fulfil his ambition of becoming a professional. It was thanks to an uncle living in Southampton that the family chose to move to England when Alejandro was ten and they settled on the south coast where the youngster resumed his football activities.
He joined the youth section of local non-league club Eastleigh and a couple of years later earned a trial at Southampton. The trial was a success and he signed for the Saints, formally joining their scholarship programme in 2022. Now aged 14, he was physically mature for his tender years and blessed with a quick turn of speed, reputedly winning the Hampshire schools 100m and 200m sprint titles.
Capped by three countries in one year
In February 2023, Rodríguez was included in the England U-15 squad for the first time and scored twice on his debut in a friendly against Belgium at St George’s Park, playing on the left wing. The following month, he made his debut for the Southampton U-18 team in the U-18 Premier League, coming on at half time to replace Isaac Bailey in a 5-2 defeat to Fulham at Motspur Park in south-west London.
A set of Portuguese grandparents are the source of his eligibility to play for Portugal and news of his growing reputation had already reached the Portuguese Football Federation headquarters in Oeiras on the outskirts of Lisbon. They were keen to involve Rodríguez in their setup and summoned him into their U-15 squad in April 2023. He made three appearances for them in friendly matches later that month, but hasn’t returned to the Portugal squad since then.
Rodríguez became a regular in the England U-16 squad for the 2023-24 campaign, scoring his first goal for them in a defeat to Italy in August and adding another six goals to his youth international tally in nine further appearances by the end of the season. That run was punctuated by a brief dalliance with the Venezuela U-17 team in September 2023, when he featured as a late substitute for them in a friendly win in Turkey. As you can see, he’s clearly open minded about his future international allegiance.
Goals galore in youth leagues
At club level, Rodríguez got a lot more playing time in the U-18 Premier League that season (10 appearances, two goals) and also made his debut for Southampton U-21s in the Premier League 2. Aged just 15 years, 10 months, and 1 day, he scored an equaliser in a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham in January 2024, becoming the second youngest scorer in the history of the Premier League 2, behind only Brighton’s Harry Howell, a teammate from the England youth squads.
At the end of his second season with the Saints, Rodríguez transferred to Lyon in France, initially joining their ‘B’ team. It was an adventurous move for a sixteen year old non-French speaker, but he’s fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese so should have no trouble picking up a new language and Lyon is a great place for promising young footballers to further their career. He’s clearly a player who knows his own mind as, upon joining Lyon, he informed them that he wants to play as a striker, having been primarily used on the wing at Southampton.
During his first season with Lyon, Rodríguez spent the majority of his time playing for the reserve or ‘B’ team in the Championnat National 3 Groupe I. In that competition he made fifteen appearances (eight starts) and scored five goals as they finished third in the table. He also made three appearances for the U-19 team playing in the Championnat National U19 Groupe B, scoring on each occasion. He kept up that scoring rate with four goals in four games in the Coupe Gambardella where they made it to the Round of 16 and a penalty shoot-out defeat to Bastia U-19.
First team debut and U-17 Euros
Towards the end of the season, he was rewarded with his first involvement in the senior Lyon squad and a place on the bench for their Europa League Quarter-Final First Leg tie at home to Manchester United (2-2). He was subsequently on the bench for a couple of Ligue 1 matches before coming on to make his debut in a 2-1 defeat to Lens at the Groupama Stadium on the 4th of May 2025. He replaced Nemanja Matic for the final nineteen minutes of the match.
Internationally, Alejandro Gomes Rodríguez stuck with England for the entirety of the 2024-25 season, following his earlier flirtations with Portugal and Venezuela. He primarily represented the U-17s in friendlies and European Championship Qualification matches but did also make his debut for England U-18s in a friendly against France.
He travelled to Albania with the U-17 squad for the UEFA Under-17 Euros in May 2025 and started all three of England’s Group B matches. His goal in the 12th minute gave England the lead in their opener against Belgium but they were eventually held to a 1-1 draw by the Belgians. Rodríguez then scored a brace against a strong Italian team in the second fixture, but it was in vain as England lost 4-2. He was on the scoresheet again in the final match against the Czechs and this time England won 4-2, but they just fell short of qualification for the semi-finals on goal-difference by a single goal.
Rodríguez had missed a couple of good chances against the Czechs that might have taken England into the last four of the competition, but his four goals made him second top scorer in the tournament, behind the Italian Samuele Inacio. England’s shortcomings were mainly at the other end of the pitch with a shaky defence.
Bright future
Alejandro Rodríguez can expect more opportunities in the Lyon first team next season under Portuguese manager Paulo Fonseca, especially now that legendary striker Alexandre Lacazette has announced his departure from the club. If he continues to develop on his current trajectory then both Olympique Lyonnais and England can look forward to exciting times ahead. He’s skilful, with quick feet, sharp on the turn and possesses rapid acceleration. He has a knack for finding space in a crowded penalty area and will be a real handful for any defenders who come up against him.