English Premier League side Everton sign Columbian midfielder James Rodriguez from Real Madrid on two-year deal

Liverpool: English Premier League side Everton have announced the signing of Columbian  midfielder James Rodriguez from Spanish giants Real Madrid. The 29-year-old has penned a two-year deal. The full financial details of the deal are yet to become public but British media reports speculate the transfer fee to be in the region of £20 million.

The English Premier League club announced the deal from their official Twitter handle.  

 It’s official… @jamesdrodriguez is a Blue! #AlóJames pic.twitter.com/hNDsLvtqtT

— Everton (@Everton) September 7, 2020

“I am really, really happy to be at this great club, a club with so much history, and here with a manager who knows me really well,”James told evertonfc.com. 

“I’m looking forward to achieving great things here – and winning things, which is what everyone’s aim is.”

Rodriguez was on the final year of his contract at La Liga champions Real Madrid.

Rodriguez, the former Porto man, thus rejoins Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti, who is currently at the helm of the Liverpool based club. It was Ancelotti, then the manager at Real Madrid, who had been instrumental in bringing the Columbian to Madrid in 2014.

After completing the signing, Rodriguez heaped praise on the Italian manager

“I’m convinced, with Carlo and his technical staff, we can achieve big things and one of the big reasons [I signed] was the presence of Carlo Ancelotti. “

“I have enjoyed some great times with him previously at two different clubs. That was a massive reason to come here.”

The attacking midfielder had a remarkable World Cup in 2014, where he was awarded the golden boot for scoring 6 goals. His performances were rewarded with a dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu from AS Monaco for a transfer fee of £63 Million, which made him one of the most expensive players at that time.

Rodriguez had a phenomenal first season for Los Blancos where he was named La Liga’s best midfielder after scoring 13 goals and providing 13 assists in 29 games.

After the appointment of Zinedine Zidane as the Real Madrid manager early in 2016,  Rodriguez slowly fell out of favour, with the French manager preferring players with a higher-work rate in order to have more defensive stability.

In 2017, the midfielder joined the ranks of Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal. He was brought to beef-up the ageing midfield of the Bundesliga champions. Ancelotti, now in charge at Bayern, was again instrumental in bringing Rodriguez to Madrid. All in all James made a total of 67 appearances for the German side, scoring 15 goals while also providing 20 assists. He won two domestic titles with at Munich.

Bayern had the option of acquiring the Columbian on a permanent deal but didn’t exercise that clause and the midfielder returned to Real Madrid.

Upon his return to the Bernabeu, James could only make 8 appearances in an injury ravaged season in which he was mostly sidelined because of a knee injury. The player made a total of 125 appearances for Real Madrid, scoring 37 goals and providing 42 assists. In terms of silverware, James won two La Liga’s and two Champions League titles during his stay in the Spanish capital.

This is Everton’s second major signing this summer following the arrival of defensive midfielder Allan from Napoli.