James Rodriguez has revealed he will return to Everton training next week, and made the startling admission that he doesn’t even know who his team will face this weekend without him.
The Colombian is expected to secure a move away before the transfer deadline, having joined the club primarily due to Carlo Ancelotti’s presence as manager. As he has now returned to Real Madrid, Rodriguez does not appear to be part of the plans of Rafa Benitez - or, judging by his comments on Twitch, Everton are not part of the playmaker’s plans.
“I will start training on Monday, I think”, Rodriguez said on a video stream on the social media platform.
“On the weekend I will not play, I don’t even know who Everton is playing. I don’t even know. Can you please tell me?
“I think it’s away because the last game was here at home. Ah, against Leeds they play, away from home, against [Marcelo] Bielsa’s team, a difficult game, let’s see what happens, hopefully they win.”
Rodriguez is currently in quarantine and was not part of the squad which beat Southampton 3-1 on the opening weekend of the campaign.
Later in the video, he also said “even I don’t know” which team he would be playing for this term, but added he wanted to be somewhere he could play well.
James was also evidently asked about a potential return to the Colombian national team for the World Cup qualifiers in September, where they will face Bolivia, Paraguay and Chile.
The playmaker was left out of the Copa America squad after being deemed not fit enough for both World Cup qualifiers and the summer tournament by Reinaldo Rueda. Rodriguez released a statement to explain his “disappointment” and “pain” at the decision and insisted he was fit, but is not currently involved with the national team set-up as a result.
Answering regarding a call-up, he stated it was “a subject which couldn’t be spoken about yet”, suggesting the “moment would come” and he “didn’t know” at the moment.
