Everton net fee after James Rodriguez exit to Al Rayyan confirmed
James Rodriguez has left Everton to join Al Rayyan, the Qatar Stars League club have confirmed via their Twitter account.
The Colombia international, 30, has put an end to recent uncertainty surrounding his Everton future and put pen to paper on a deal for Al Rayyan.
Rodriguez joined the Blues from Real Madrid in 2020, but made just 26 appearances in all competitions.
The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland has reported that it is a permanent move for an undisclosed fee.
Everton were desperate to offload his £200,000-a-week wages, with Rafa Benitez deeming Rodriguez to be surplus to requirements at Goodison Park.
Small fee included?
Boyland suggests Everton have received some sort of remuneration for Rodriguez’s services from Al Rayyan, which seems a surprise given they appeared to be so eager to let him leave that a free transfer was the obvious route.
While it remains undisclosed, The Athletic reporter has made reference to the existence of a fee, so that could be a little boost to the coffers as the Blues attempt to battle their way out of reported FFP issues.
The main thing, however, will be the removal of his huge wages from the books.
The Colombian was quite comfortably the highest earned at the club, yet he was failing to justify the money after fading into obscurity.
After a bright beginning to the 2020/21 campaign, events started to go downhill pretty fast for Rodriguez, and he has not played for the club since May after being frozen out of Benitez’s first-team plans this season.
In other Everton news, Simon Jordan has claimed the Blues are ‘another Derby’ and will need Farhad Moshiri to bail them out.
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