How James Rodriguez went from Hero to Villain in 1 year at Everton

Everton's new coach, Rafael Benitez has had a good start to life with Everton; winning 3 games,  losing 1 and drawing 1 so far this season for the Toffees. The 2021/22 English Premier League campaign was billed by some to be troublesome with the departure of Carlo Ancelotti just a few days to the start of a new season. Another crisis that rocked the club early on was the future of star player, James Rodriguez. 

The Colombian playmaker had joined Everton as a marquee signing under Carlo Ancelotti in the summer of 2020, reuniting with the Italian coach for the third time after previous spells together at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The departure of the revered coach suddenly cast James Rodriguez future into doubt at the Merseyside, with many expecting he would also move on. Especially with Everton struggling to pay his weekly wage of £220,000. 

Under Rafael Benitez, Everton has done some good deals, bringing in Premier League campaigners, Andros Townsend and Abdoulaye Doucoure. Demarai Gray was also signed from the Bundesliga and the former Leicester City winger has made an immediate impact for Rafael Benitez' side. 3 wins out of 5 games with a draw and a loss mean that Everton is in 6th place just 3 points behind early leaders Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. 

James Rodriguez has not played a game for Everton this season following consistent rumours of a departure. Though the transfer window is closed in many of the European leagues, a move to Qatar being suggested for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner. As Everton host Norwich on Matchday 6 of the English Premier League, they will be confident to pick up the full 3 points against the bottom side, while not noticing the absence of last season's marquee signing, James Rodriguez.