Journalist Pete O’Rourke believes that despite claims, it would be a surprise to see James Rodriguez make a return to Goodison Park following his departure in the summer.
Rodriguez made 23 Premier League appearances for the Toffees last campaign before making the move to Qatar Stars League club, Al-Rayyan in September.
Due to FFP, Everton had to get rid of the Colombian. Although he was relatively cheap initially, he was on a big contract at Everton so his departure freed up some much-needed space on the wage bill.
After the 30-year-old spoke on Twitch, Rodriguez refused to rule out a return to Goodison Park when discussing a potential move back to Everton (as per the Daily Mail)
O’Rourke spoke to GiveMeSport to give his view on Rodriguez’s comments, saying: “I’d be majorly surprised if James Rodriguez was to return to Everton. Obviously, he was a big, high-profile signing when he did join the club.
“Although it was a relatively cheap transfer fee, his contract was a pretty big one and Everton needed to trim the wage bill and reduce costs to fit in with FFP.”
TIF Thoughts on a move back to Everton for James Rodriguez…
In the early stages of Rodriguez’s short time at Everton, he showed some promising signs and ended the season with six goals and four assists in 20 Premier League games. But overall, his stint in England will go down as a failure. Indeed, six of his 10 goal involvements that season came within the first few weeks of the campaign.
Rodriguez burst onto the scene at the 2014 World Cup when he won the Golden Boot, and since then, he has featured for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but he has failed to shine since his heroics for his country.
The 30-year-old is a luxury player, and if played in the right system, in the right team, he can be a brilliant asset. But with a club like Everton, they can’t afford to have a player who isn’t willing to work hard all game in their side, so it didn’t work out for him at Goodison Park, as per Sky Sports.