James Rodriguez
Rafa Benitez potential move to Everton would reunite him with his former Real Madrid player. The Spaniard became the favourite to fill the Everton boss vacancy last night, overtaking ex-Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Benitez insisted that Rodriguez had his “full support and confidence” back in December 2015.
Rafa Benitez said: “There is no problem, he is a great player. The more he trains and plays the closer he will be to the James that we all know and love. The issue is clear. What I want is to see the best James in each match, scoring lots of goals.”
Carlo Ancelotti suddenly left the club earlier this month to take over as Real Madrid manager and many believed James could follow the Italian back to his old side. Rodriguez has a history of working with the 62-year-old. The Colombian trained under Ancelotti during the manager’s first spell at the Santiago Bernabeu and the Italian then brought him to Bayern on loan. The pair were briefly reunited at Everton but have been separated once again following Ancelotti’s departure. However, the 29-year-old cast doubt on the rumours that Ancelotti would push Madrid to re-sign him.
James Rodriguez said: “I don’t know [if I’ll go back to Madrid]. I don’t think so, we’re watching. If I stay another year at Everton, that’s fine. I don’t think Ancelotti is going to take me. The cycle for me with Real Madrid is closed, I don’t think I’ll go there, but I’m still young.”
