After lighting up the Copa America this summer, Colombia captain James Rodriguez is looking for a new club.
The 33-year-old recently rescinded his contract with Brazilian side Sao Paulo and is now a free agent. Without a team to report to, last week Rodriguez was the special guest on a popular Colombian influencer’s live Twitch stream.
During a conversation lasting an hour and 43 minutes with the Medellin-based streamer Pelicanger, the former Real Madrid attacking midfielder discussed a wide range of topics.
He was asked by the chat room to name the best player he has lined up alongside in his career. “It’s difficult,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve played with so many freaks.”
His pick to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or? “If I had won the Copa America, I’d be right there,” he said confidently, adding that his ex-Madrid team-mate and Spain full-back Dani Carvajal should claim the award this October. Is striker Radamel Falcao among Colombia’s best-ever players? “Without a doubt,” Rodriguez said. “He’s up there with me.”
Rodriguez was also asked when he’ll retire from professional football. “My daughter wants me to play until I’m 39,” he said. “It really comes down to mentality. I want to go out on top, like (former Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni) Kroos.”
At the Copa America, Rodriguez showed the world that he can still perform at an elite level. He provided a tournament record six assists and scored one goal in six games. Rodriguez was superb during Colombia’s run to the final at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, where his team lost 1-0 to Lionel Messi’s defending champions Argentina.
When he turned 33 two days before the final, Rodriguez’s former European clubs Porto, Monaco and Bayern Munich all posted celebratory posts on their social media accounts. Rodriguez shares a birthday with Madrid’s star Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior, which explains why the Spanish club didn’t post well wishes. Nevertheless, it underscored his impressive CV.
Rodriguez with Kroos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos at Madrid (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)
It also started a debate in the football world about whether the player who once moved to Madrid for €80million ($87m; £69m at current exchange rates) still belongs in Europe’s top leagues.
In Colombia, Rodriguez’s next destination is discussed daily. Fuad Char, the 86-year-old millionaire owner of Club Atletico Junior, from the city of Barranquilla, was asked about the possibility of signing Rodriguez. Commonly known as Junior, the Atlantic coast club is among the richest in Colombia.
“James is at a very high cost bracket,” Char said. “I heard that he had closed a deal with Lazio and that they were going to pay him $3million a year. We can’t pay that.”
There’s been interest from Madrid-based team Rayo Vallecano and Valencia was another rumored next stop. In Spain, well-known football pundit Edu Aguirre, a close friend of Rodriguez, said that the Colombian would “come walking to Valencia” if that was a real possibility.
As Char alluded to, Rodriguez was linked to Serie A side Lazio, but that was emphatically ruled out last week by the club’s sporting director, Angelo Fabiani. The Lazio project, according to Fabiani, will be built around the signing of younger players.
“I would never sign James,” Fabiani said. “He is 33 and in recent years he has never made it past 12 or 13 games per season. He played very well at the last Copa America, but signing him for one or two years would go against all logic.”
Colombia lost the Copa America final to Argentina (Rodrigo Caillaud/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Rodriguez made 22 appearances in his year at Sao Paulo. He scored twice and provided four assists in what was another disappointing chapter in his career after stints with Everton in the Premier League, Greece’s Olympiacos and Qatari side Al Rayyan. During that time, he was ostracized from the Colombia national team until current manager Nestor Lorenzo offered him a lifeline.
Rodriguez is transformed when he plays for his country, but that is down to more than national pride. Colombia has long relied on the creative abilities of traditional playmaking No 10s.
With Colombia, Rodriguez’s skills and vision in the attacking half spaces are valued. He has the freedom to pick up the ball across midfield, help overload a flank or play as a second striker. Those liberties aren’t granted to many players in Europe’s top five leagues.
He isn’t helped by the modern game’s pace and requirements for every player to be multi-purpose. When he’s on the ball, Rodriguez is virtually impeccable and leaves it all on the pitch. But the Colombian’s talents are best used within a tactical framework that can accommodate a throwback player like him.
Lorenzo’s Colombia play in a flexible 4-2-3-1 shape well suited to his skills. The level-headed Argentine coach believes in this version of Rodriguez, a player who now runs less but still delivers match-winning performances at international level. Lorenzo and Rodriguez have developed a close relationship, something that Rodriguez hasn’t enjoyed with many coaches.
“James is searching for his future, for his future club,” Lorenzo told Colombia’s Caracol Radio last week. “He’ll let us know as soon as it’s official and he signs with a club. If he asks (for advice), we’ll talk. Where should he go? Wherever he’ll play. Where he’ll be an important player, where the coach wants him. That’s all I can say at this point.”
Rodriguez is represented by Jorge Mendes, one of the most influential agents in the game. Various football market value sites estimate the midfielder is now worth $5milion. He moved from Real Madrid to Everton for a fee believed to be in the region of $25m just four years ago. His current transfer value isn’t an obstacle for any club — it’s his wages.
In 2017, Forbes Magazine listed Rodriguez as one of the world’s highest-paid athletes, in 91st place. He’s since fallen off that list, but the Brazilian press reported this month that Rodriguez was earning $300,000 a month with Sao Paulo. According to AFP, Rodriguez relinquished $3million in bonuses and add-ons in order to terminate his contract.
Rodriguez during his spell at Sao Paulo (Diego Lima/AFP via Getty Images)
Since then, the New Balance-sponsored Rodriguez has been working out on his own, first in Miami following the Copa America final, and most recently in Colombia. Rodriguez is an avid gamer, so fans will find him often on his own Twitch channel. It was on that platform in April that Rodriguez first spoke about how he visualizes the end of his career.
“The plan is to play in the (2026) World Cup (in the United States, Canada and Mexico) and then think hard,” he said. “I want to retire while playing in a big competition and on a good team. Take advantage of me now and watch me play these next three years because they may be my last.”
On August 2, as the stream with Pelicanger was about to end, Rodriguez asked the influencer and the hundreds of fans in the chat room if they’d like to know where he was headed next. Visibly taken aback by the possibility of a global exclusive on his stream, Pelicanger shouted: “Smile everyone! We’re going to be on ESPN!” Shocked emojis littered the feed in anticipation of Rodriguez’s big reveal.
“You want to know where I’m going next?” Rodriguez asked again as he stood up from his gaming chair. “I’m going home, guys.”
The European transfer window closes on August 30, meaning Rodriguez and Mendes have a few more weeks to finalize a move to a new team. South American World Cup qualifiers, meanwhile, are set to resume in September.
Colombia visit Peru on September 6 and will host Argentina in Barranquilla four days later. If Rodriguez doesn’t have a club by the next FIFA international window, his future will become even more clouded than it is now.
(Top photo by Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Read the full article here