Rodrigo Defendi (born 16 June 1986) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a central defender.
He was the first player signed under the Frank Arnesen and Jacques Santini era at Spurs from Cruzeiro for a fee of £600,000 on July 3, 2004, although he had to wait for his passport to arrive in August for the deal to be officially completed.
He was deemed surplus to requirements by Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Jol, as he was first allowed to travel back to Brazil to seek a contract with a new club which proved unsuccessful, before he was farmed out on loan to Udinese Calcio in January 2006.
On August 9, 2007 Tottenham announced his departure to the Italian Serie B club Avellino on a permanent transfer.
[2] On 18 February 2015, Defendi signed a two-year contract with Chinese Super League side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.