James to be sold by Everton? Benitez casts doubt on midfielder's future

The Colombian playmaker could be on his way out of Goodison Park this summer after just a single season.

Everton new boss Rafa Benitez has offered an indication that James Rodriguez could be sold in order to raise funds for fresh acquisitions.

Inconsistency issues and fitness problems prevented Rodriguez from making much of an impact in his debut season at Everton.

The former Real Madrid man could manage just 21 Premier League starts and made only 26 appearances across all competitions in 2020-21, contributing six goals and nine assists.

A push for the Goodison Park exits could be on the cards for the 30-year-old, who is reportedly attracting interest from AC Milan.

🇨🇴 Everton are looking to offload James Rodriguez this summer with AC Milan supposedly keen.

Milan are looking for a replacement for the Inter Milan bound Hakan Calhanoglu, and Rodriguez fits that category.

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“Everybody knows that this club has spent a lot of money in the last few years so that means that Financial Fair Play is a factor,” Benitez told reporters of James, per Daily Mail.

“If you have players with big salaries that normally aren’t playing then you want to find a solution and this solution will mean you have money to spend on new players.

“So we will try to maximise what we have and manage the best way possible to be sure we can bring players that will make us strong.”