James Rodriguez returns to LaLiga after 1,548 days. Four years and two months exactly since the last match which he played for Real Madrid. During that time, the Colombian had to fight in England, Qatar, Greece and Brazil. These were difficult times in which he even distanced himself from his great love, the Colombian National Team. However, Néstor Lorenzo appeared and decided to give him another chance. Now, the first challenge will be Osasuna this Monday at 2:00 pm (Colombian time).
After his great Copa America, Europe was the ideal destination for James. The Colombian was looking for an offer in Italy to play in the big five, but nothing could be done. Then, a few days before the transfer market closed, Rayo Vallecano appeared. The Spanish team wanted to have the best player in America and they got it.
It was easy to convince him, according to Martín Presa, president of Rayo Vallecano. “I called James a month ago. His phone number? I have it easy. We have a mutual friend, Falcao. We sent him a WhatsApp. From there we started working. We explained our project to him, what we want and what this club is about. James wanted to return to LaLiga and in the end he has achieved it.”
James, the Maradona of Rayo Vallecano
“I can see that I am excited,” the Spanish team’s account recently posted after another great performance by James Rodríguez with the Colombian national team. The ’10’ was key in the draw against Peru and in the victory against Argentina, where he provided an assist and scored the winning goal. In Vallecas, they only hope that the Colombian is present. They want to see his talent live and in person.
At Rayo they see him as the signing of Diego Maradona for Napoli. They want his talent to achieve important things. “I put him at the same level as when a newly promoted team like Napoli to Serie A signed Diego Armando Maradona. At that time it was a humble team, although it is a great team. The same thing has happened now when a club like Rayo has been able to sign a player like James who has just been the best player in the Copa America,” said the president of the Spanish team.
James is a great player in the national team and is at 100%
The 33-year-old midfielder arrived at Rayo Vallecano motivated after his performance with the Colombian national team. Iñigo Pérez, coach of the Spanish team, hinted that the minutes he played with the national team were very important for him to regain competitive rhythm and thus speed up the process of his debut.
“They don’t know who they’ve been called up to before the last training session, but this isn’t the coach’s whim, we just like to test if the players have any kind of problem, which isn’t the case with James. A few days have passed and he has played in two games with his national team, it’s not the same as before the break when he was in a fairly long period of inactivity,” said the coach.
James Rodriguez’s numbers in La Liga
James spent four seasons in La Liga. In his first year he was instrumental for Carlo Ancelotti, unfortunately they did not win the title in 2014/2015, when he was playing at a great level. In 2015/2016 he also played a leading role, but when the Italian left everything changed.
In total, the midfielder has scored 29 goals and provided 28 assists in 85 games. His numbers show that Spanish football can once again make him a star of the elite in one of the best leagues in the world.
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