Rodon on a season with Leeds and summer spent with Ampadu: ‘We’re together every minute’

It was a long, gruelling campaign for Leeds United, with 46 weeks between the first day of Leeds United’s pre-season and their final game of 2025-26. Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu were in each other’s pockets throughout, not even getting a rest from each other during international breaks, but still decided to spend their summer together.

They played in Wales’ 2-1 defeat to Romania on June 6 in Bucharest. Rodon then flew out to begin his summer in California, where he waited for Ampadu, who was fulfilling media duties at Elland Road after signing his new contract.

The wait for Ampadu went on longer than either of them wanted. The Leeds captain was scheduled to arrive in good time for the United States’ first World Cup fixture in Los Angeles on June 12. The Welsh pair wanted to watch their United team-mate, Brenden Aaronson.

“We were going to Brenden’s first game, but Ethan’s flight was delayed that Friday,” said Rodon. “He came out a few days later than me. We were going to go on that Friday afternoon, but Ethan’s flight was delayed, so we had to wait for him.”

Rodon and Ampadu would be in California, between Montecito and Los Angeles, for more than three weeks as the biggest sporting event on the planet unfolded around them. There were other opportunities to watch a live game, but after 11 months of playing, Rodon said they were quite content to keep it at arm’s length.

“That (U.S. vs Paraguay) was the only game we were going to do,” he said. “It’s good when you are there because you can watch on TV at a good time.

“When you’re in it (football) for 11 months, being at a football game can be a bit much. It takes a whole day. We were going to go (on another occasion), but knocked it on the head and watched it on TV.”

Evidently, then, they were not in the U.S. to watch the World Cup. They actually wanted to use the West Coast as the starting point for their 2026-27 season.

Rodon has been visiting that part of the world for the past four years. Peak Performance Project (P3), a high-tech, elite-athlete training facility in Santa Barbara, was the reason.

You would not notice the nondescript warehouse if you walked past it, but it has become a mecca for athletes seeking an edge. P3 uses biomechanics and data analytics to help athletes prevent injuries and improve performance.

Across the 129 league games Leeds have played since Rodon arrived in August 2023, he has missed only three through injury. He has found a formula that works for him and brought Ampadu along for the first time 12 months ago.

It’s not just the sports science, however. Being in California helps Rodon to reset and unplug from his normal life in the UK.

Asked why he goes to California, he said: “The time zones. Eight hours behind. Stay off the phone. Everyone back home and stuff. I come away from that. It’s a complete reset.”

Rodon brings his own sports scientists with him and, with P3’s help, they take stock of where his body is at. They pinpoint weaknesses and devise a four-week training programme to eliminate them while he is there.

It sets a marker for where his body is at in June every year.

“My personal team, the people I work with, know me inside out, but you go back to the drawing board at the start of every season, (looking at) where you left off, and see if you develop from there,” he said.

“It’s always a good baseline to take into the new season of what we need to improve on. It benefits me in massive ways, and Ethan was a big fan of it.”

Decades ago, most professional footballers would take a full break from exercise between seasons. They would eat, drink and live as they wished, using pre-season as the time to get back into shape.

Nowadays, the culture could not be more different. Is there any danger of Rodon and Ampadu taking it too far the other way, though? Are they resting enough? Last season, Rodon played 38 club games, Ampadu 40.

Their last appearance was June 6. Rodon says they took a full week off after that Wales game, but they would be back in the gym to get their bodies moving after that.

Their progress culminates in three weeks of double-sessions from Monday to Friday, with weekends and the occasional weekday off for recovery. Rodon stresses it is manageable, methodical, enjoyable and, crucially, working for him.

The advantage to preparing in Santa Barbara is what Rodon and Ampadu had on their doorstop when training was over for the day.

“That’s the whole point,” he said. “We would stay in Montecito, which is right next to Santa Barbara. It’s a beautiful place, amazing beaches, restaurants. It’s very relaxed and it’s where people go to retire.

“We mixed it up this year. We spent a bit of time in LA as well, just to balance it out and we’re young, so we are going to want stuff to do. Beautiful places and the weather, you can’t replace that. It was an amazing experience.”

Rodon is speaking to the media at Thorp Arch the day before the squad flies out to the U.S. for a pre-season training camp. Ampadu, never far away, is conducting his own interview 30 metres away.

They arrive together. They leave together. How do they cope spending so much time in each other’s company?

“Me and Ethan, ever since I came here, have bonded really quickly,” said Rodon. “I knew of Ethan before I came here (in 2023), but as in, really close (friends), no.

“It’s just so easy. We’re both very laid-back people and bounce off each other. It just blends in really well.

“We’re just together every minute of every day. We have the same wants and needs. We want to both be successful. When you’re around that, it’s all about being positive.

“We match well together, and we’ve really enjoyed our time so far.”

Did those long summer evenings spent together, looking out at the Pacific Ocean, offer time for reflection? Was there a moment to enjoy United’s 14th-place finish in the Premier League?

Rodon, as ever, kept his sights on a future he and Ampadu are crafting together for Leeds.

“When I came here on loan, Ethan was the first one to message me,” he said. “‘You coming? What’s happening?’.

“Me and Ethan have always had the same idea for where we wanted Leeds to go. Ever since we came in here, it’s gradually got to where we want to be.

“At the start of last season, we always knew what we wanted and we instilled that in the group.”

They will go back to the U.S. first. Wrexham, Sunderland and Liverpool await in friendlies before they can finally settle in for the next 300 days on home soil.