Now that he is with Everton, James Rodriguez will be discussed for weeks and there is an account about his failed transfer to Atletico Madrid.
There was a time in which James Rodriguez was close to becoming an Atletico Madrid player. The Colombian playmaker has always been on Diego Simeone’s radar but Real Madrid never wanted to help their rivals by selling them great players. This is a very common practice from Florentino Perez. The president always gets in the way of possible negotiations that can help their rivals in the domestic competitions.
This happened before with Sevilla and their attempts to sign Mariano Diaz and it happened last season with James. In fact, the now Everton player was edging towards becoming a Colchonero but Los Blancos blocked the transfer. After that, other clubs approached Real Madrid with very little luck. In Florentino’s mind, selling players to Champions League competitors is also a no-go. When Napoli also approached, Perez refused to let him play for the Serie A club as well.
Everton was the best option to Florentino.
After so many attempts from several clubs, Florentino Perez finally decided to send James to a club that didn’t compete against Los Blancos in any competition. But as it turns out, the footballer wanted to play for Atletico Madrid when they approached him. Cadena SER spoke to Juan Carlos Restrepo, who is James Rodriguez’s stepfather.
“James would have liked to sign for Atletico Madrid,” said Restrepo. “It is a source of pride that a club like Atleti had been interested in him. Besides, there are the fans and he would have felt at home with them.”
“He is now comfortable and calm on the pitch. They are past experiences, now we are satisfied.
“If you see the minutes he has had on the pitch, Zidane certainly did not take James into account. James feels very liberated after signing for Everton.”
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