Everton are set to announce the arrival of Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez on a three-year deal. According to Fabrizio Romano, he tweeted that the final details of the move were completed on Tuesday. He also revealed that an announcement is imminent.
Rodriguez fell out of favour with Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. He now wants to reunite with former coach Carlo Ancelotti and try out the Premier League. The 29-year old Columbian has played 125 times for Madrid since joining after the World Cup in 2014 for £63m.
He was signed from Monaco after putting out an excellent display at 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Rodriguez also enjoyed a two-year loan spell at Bayern Munich between 2017 and 2019 before returning to Madrid for their La Liga-winning 2019-2020 campaign. His loan spell was not made permanent after in Munich as he returned to the Bernabeu at the end of last season. Things didn’t work out well for Rodriguez in his second coming as he only made a handful of appearances mostly from the bench as Madrid reclaimed La Liga from bitter rivals Barcelona.
The terms of the deal are reportedly being finalized even though the player has not traveled to the Merseyside. No last-minute hitch is expected even though the timeline is Covid-19 procedures dependent. Rodriguez will sign a three-year deal with Everton. Although the transfer fee involved still remains unclear.
Los Blancos were initially demanding €25 million for the Colombian international. Although it’s not publicly known whether Everton matched the valuation. But sources close to the player have confirmed a final arrangement has been reached and the deal will go ahead.
The importance of Everton boss Ancelotti can’t be understated in the race to sign Rodriguez. The duo enjoyed a good single season at the Bernabeu. Ancelotti was sacked after a year together with Rodriguez. The Italian moved to Bayern Munich and also made the move for James but unfortunately Ancelotti did not last long in Munich. Rodriguez will hope he will have enough time to work with the Italian for a longer period at Goodison Park.
Meanwhile, Everton have also intensified the interest in Jorge Benguche. The Honduras international is on loan at Boavista. Everton are looking for a backup for top striker Richarlison and the club has identified the player as an ideal candidate.