Everton manager Roberto Martinez has revealed that striker Leandro Rodriguez's father initially didn't allow him to play football, sending him to University instead.

The 22-year-old Uruguayan signed for the Toffees from River Plate Montevideo in the summer but the player that Martinez describes as 'one for the future', was almost forced down a different path.

Ahead of Tuesday night's Capital One Cup clash with Reading, Martinez said: "Leandro's dad was a footballer as well but he became a dentist and has been a dentist for most of his life. His son wanted to play football but the dad was very strong with him and didn't want him to play professional football, so he sent him to university.

"We were aware of Leandro's goalscoring ability very early on after seeing him in a tournament in the United States. We wanted to follow his progress but then we saw he wasn't playing for the first team, which we thought was very strange.

"It turned out his dad wouldn't allow him to play because he wanted him to complete his degree at university. He then agreed to give Leandro one year to just concentrate at football and that's when he really kicked on.

"He was really impressive in the games at River Plate Montevideo in how he found a way to score goals."