In recent years, Everton has had to bid farewell to some gifted players.
Players like Anthony Gordon, Amadou Onana, and Richarlison have all left Goodison Park in exchange for large sums of money.
But in recent years, one of Everton’s most gifted players left under controversial circumstances.
James Rodriguez did, in fact, leave Everton under cloud nine. The Colombian has since opened openly about his exit on the team’s YouTube page.
The midfield player acknowledged that Rafa Benitez, the manager, forced him to leave Everton even though he never wanted to.
Rodriguez wasn’t happy about this situation, so much so that he couldn’t even bring himself to say Benitez’s name.
James Rodriguez didn’t want to leave Everton
The ‘brilliant ant‘ South American spoke about his departure from Everton.
“Tell us a little bit about your departure from Everton?” Rodriguez was asked.
“Yes, I’ve spoken about this in interviews before and I didn’t want to leave the club. But the new manager had arrived, and we all know who that is, and he said that I wasn’t going to feature in his plans,” Rodriguez said.
“I never wanted to leave, that much is obvious. I felt I could’ve gone on to play another two or three seasons more at the club, but it’s plain to see that the manager said he wouldn’t be wanting me to be involved at all.”
“The supporters wanted me to stay, and so did I, but that is just football for you, what happened then is all in the past, but it was a real shame because I believed I could’ve achieved more in my time at Everton Football Club.”
James Rodriguez situation was a shame
It’s such a shame that a player as talented as Rodriguez was hounded out of Everton by a manager like Rafa Benitez.
Simply put, Benitez’s time at Everton was a disaster, and getting rid of Rodriguez was one of his more controversial decisions.
Of course, Frank Lampard didn’t fare much better at Everton, but perhaps he could’ve got something out of Rodriguez. After all, Lampard loves an attacking midfield player.
It’s a real shame that Rodriguez’s time at Everton ended like this.
