Former Everton midfielder James Rodriguez spent a single season at Goodison Park before being told to leave by incoming manager Rafael Benitez
After reuniting with Ancelotti at Goodison Park, the Italian coach left to rejoin Real Madrid in the summer and led the club to controversially name Liverpool icon Benitez as manager. Having previously clashed at Real Madrid, the arrival of Benitez signalled the end for Rodriguez, who was told he had no future with the Blues.
“Yes, I’ve spoken about this in interviews before and I didn’t want to leave the club either, but the new manager had arrived, and we all know who that is, and he said I wasn’t going to feature in his plans,” Rodriguez said in a recent interview with Everton.
“I never wanted to leave, that much is obvious. I felt that I could have gone on to play two or three seasons at the club. But it’s plain to see that the manager said that he wouldn’t be wanting me involved at all.
“The supporters wanted me to stay and so did I. But in the end, that’s just football for you. What happened then is now in the past but it was a real shame because I believed that I could have gone on to achieve more in my time at Everton. I feel like I could have brought more happiness to all the fans.”
James Rodriguez and Carlo Ancelotti had previously worked together at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich(Image: JAN KRUGER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The situation gave Rodriguez few options and he joined Qatari club Al-Raayan in September 2021, while Benitez was sacked less than four months later. The Colombian’s sole season at the club was largely played behind closed doors, meaning he never got to experience the Everton faithful at Goodison.
Now with Rayo Vallecano, via spells with Olympiacos and Sao Paulo, Rodriguez recently scored in Colombia’s win over Argentina and has seemingly got his career back on track. Yet he admits that his short time at Everton was unforgettable and has left him with a sense of what might have been.
“I would have absolutely loved to have played in front of the fans but from what I’ve seen on social media, I can tell that they have a lot of affection for me, which means that I must have performed pretty well there,” Rodriguez added. “I think I displayed a decent level of form that season, we started off the Premier League campaign very well, I think it had been the best start to a season that Everton had enjoyed in a long time.
“I was always happy because in spite of not having them close by, I could always feel the love and affection from all those fans. It was a short spell, but the time I was there made a great impression on both myself and my family too.”
