James Rodriguez has claimed that Rafa Benitez was the only reason he left Everton.
The Colombian superstar spent the 2020-21 season at Goodison Park, scoring six goals in 26 appearances for Carlo Ancelotti's side.
But after Ancelotti left to return to Real Madrid, Rodriguez soon followed him. However, the playmaker has stated his departure in the summer of 2021 wasn't of his own making.
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Ancelotti was succeeded by Benitiez in the Everton hotseat. The former Liverpool manager had previously worked with Rodriguez during his brief spell in charge of Real Madrid.
The pair are said to have clashed in the Spanish capital and, in a fresh interview, Rodriguez has alleged that Benitez told him on the first day of pre-season that he had no future with the Blues.
"I was at Everton for a year but I would have liked it to be longer. It went well, very well, I’m leaving due to a coach, because if not, I would stay," Rodríguez said during a conversation with Portuguese futsal player, Ricardinho, as quoted by Caracol Radio (via Sport Witness).
“The coach (Benitez) told me on the first day of pre-season, ‘you are old, you are already 30 years old, I prefer to have young people, with energy. So, find yourself a club’. I told a leader, after three months he will be out, I have already worked with him.
“I told him after three months look for me and after three months he (Benítez) was already out. Then came Lampard, he has won some games and has managed to save the club.”
Benitez lasted just six-and-a-half months at Everton, being replaced by Frank Lampard in January 2022. This week Lampard lost his job, too, after 10 games without a win, and is now set to be replaced by Sean Dyche.
At the time of Rodriguez's departure, Benitez said: "We could be talking about that for weeks if you want. The reality is that the player now is happy, because he has an option that he is pleased with. I said before, we have to maximise our resources.
"Considering all the injury record and all that we need for the team, I think it was important for us to change and then to move forward. Hopefully we can use this money to bring in another kind of player that maybe will be fine for us, and then we can fill the gaps that we have.
"And that's it. If he's happy and can score goals there, he can play well, it will be very good. For us, it's something that we needed to do to be sure we could move forward."
Rodriguez moved to Al-Rayyan, in Qatar, before joining Olympiacos, in Greece, in the summer.
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