Jim White suggests Everton playmaker James Rodriguez should follow Willian example
Jim White has suggested that James Rodriguez should rip his contract up and quit Everton after failing to secure a move elsewhere.
Rodriguez, 30, joined Everton on a two-year contract in 2020 but has fallen out of favour at Goodison Park
However, a late deal to take him back to Porto in return for Colombian compatriot Luis Diaz failed to materialise and he stayed at Everton beyond the end of deadline day.
Speaking on talkSPORT [03/09/21], White has questioned why Rodriguez does not follow Willian’s example, the Brazilian attacker who tore his £240,000-a-week Arsenal contract up this week without asking for a pay-off [Sky Sports].
White said: “They’re high profile players [Phil Jones and Ross Barkley], James Rodriguez falls into this category. Why don’t those three do what Willian did?“
“Because they don’t need to,” ex-Liverpool midfielder Murphy replied.
White: “I know they don’t need to but why shouldn’t they?”
Ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan weighed in. He said: “If you’re a committed footballer, we are always endlessly told it’s a short career, why would you want to give up two years of it for a big bag of money?”
Murphy: “I think most players still want to play.”
Jordan: “Yeah, as long as there’s no coin taken away from them.”
Murphy: “Yeah maybe, I take it back.”
Jordan: “You get the moral stance of ‘I’m entitled to it so I should have it’, but you were entitled to perform at a certain level and you haven’t done that, so where’s the pro quo?”
Money money
Of course, Rodriguez terminating his contract would be agreeable on many fronts.
It’s been pretty clear all summer that the South American star was free to leave Goodison Park but there doesn’t appear to have been any suitable takers for him.
AC Milan were one side heavily linked, but did they want him on loan with Everton subsidising a big portion of his wages?
It’s hard to see why the Blues would have blocked his exit otherwise.
But from the player’s point of view, he will feel that he is entitled, as alluded to by Jordan, to the money he signed up for when he agreed to move to Everton.
Furthermore, given Everton’s inability to bring in more attacking reinforcements over the summer, Rafa Benitez may actually find some use for him in his side.
In other Everton news, this Blues centre-mid snubbed a Goodison exit despite attempts to offload him.
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