James Rodriguez has described his recent time with Everton as “very hard” at his unveiling as an Al-Rayyan player. The 30-year-old joined the Qatari side on Wednesday, after being spotted at the airport earlier in the week, putting an end to his year-long stay with the Blues. His spell at Everton began brightly as the club won their opening four league games last season, with Rodriguez registering six combined goals and assists in his first five appearances. However, he left the Blues having never featured under new boss Rafa Benitez and has revealed he found it difficult being unable to play.
James Rodriguez said: “It has been very hard for me, and this is good. I hope I can do well, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to play a lot, and here I’m going to do it with the help of everyone, with the help of the coach, and I hope to do good things. I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of days and I want to thank everyone who has always been here. I’m happy to be here; it’s a new chapter for me.”
Having signed for the club due to his desire to link up with former boss Carlo Ancelotti, Rodriguez’s long-term future was always in doubt once the Italian coach opted to re-join Real Madrid.
