In a surprising move, Colombian attacking midfielder James Rodriguez left Premier League side Everton and joined Qatar’s Al Rayyan. Rodriquez already passed his medical and inked a deal with his new club.
Al Rayyan, which is helmed by former France national team manager Laurent Blanc, confirmed the move on social media on Wednesday.
Rodriguez has been engaged in talks with Al Rayyan for some time now, even visiting Qatar earlier this week to get a better insight into the club. He was eventually convinced to make the switch, which was made even easier by Everton’s wishes to move on from the player.
James Rodriguez arrived at Everton in 2020, reuniting with manager Carlo Ancelotti, who previously coached him during spells at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Despite being hampered by injuries, which limited him to 26 games in 2020-21, Rodriguez had a successful campaign with the Merseyside side and contributed with six goals and five assists in the Premier League alone.
However, Rodriguez’s status abruptly changed after Ancelotti left in June to rejoin Real and Everton hired Rafa Benitez as the new manager. Benitez made it clear from the get-go that Rodriguez won’t play under him and is free to leave the club.
James Rodriguez is best known for his performance with Colombia at the 2014 World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s best scorer. His club career is a mixed bag, however, since he found success during his stints with Porto and Monaco early on but frequently struggled with injuries and consistency in later years.
