After shining at the Copa America this summer, Colombian captain James Rodriguez is looking for a new club.
The 33-year-old recently terminated his contract with Brazilian club Sao Paulo and is now a free agent. With no team to play for, Rodriguez was the special guest on a popular Colombian influencer’s live Twitch stream last week.
During a one-hour and 43-minute conversation with Medellin-based streamer Pelicanger, the former Real Madrid attacking midfielder discussed a wide range of topics.
In the chatroom, he was asked to name the best player he played with in his career. “That’s difficult,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve played with so many freaks.”
His favourite for the 2024 Ballon d’Or? “If I had won the Copa America, I would be there,” he said confidently, adding that his former Madrid teammate and Spanish full-back Dani Carvajal should win the award in October. Is striker Radamel Falcao one of the best Colombian players of all time? “Without a doubt,” said Rodriguez. “He is one of my favourites.”
Rodriguez was also asked when he will retire from professional football. “My daughter wants me to play until I’m 39,” he said. “It’s really a question of attitude. I want to retire as a top player, like (former Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni) Kroos.”
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At the Copa America, Rodriguez showed the world he can still play at an elite level, providing a tournament-record six assists and scoring one goal in six games. Rodriguez was outstanding during Colombia’s run to the final at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, where his team lost 1-0 to Lionel Messi’s defending champions Argentina.
When he turned 33 two days before the final, Rodriguez’s former European clubs Porto, Monaco and Bayern Munich all posted congratulatory messages on their social media accounts. Rodriguez shares his birthday with Madrid’s star Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior, which explains why the Spanish club didn’t post any congratulations. Still, it underlined his impressive resume.
Rodriguez with Kroos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos in Madrid (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)
In addition, it sparked a debate in the football world about whether the player who once moved to Madrid for 80 million euros ($87 million, £69 million at the current exchange rate) still belongs in Europe’s top leagues.
In Colombia, Rodriguez’s next destination is discussed daily. Fuad Char, the 86-year-old millionaire owner of Club Atletico Junior from the city of Barranquilla, was asked about the possibility of signing Rodriguez. The club on the Atlantic coast, commonly known as Junior, is one of the richest in Colombia.
“James is in a very high price bracket,” Char said. “I heard he signed a contract with Lazio and that they would pay him $3 million a year. We can’t afford that.”
There is interest from Madrid-based team Rayo Vallecano and Valencia was another rumoured next stop. In Spain, well-known football expert Edu Aguirre, a close friend of Rodriguez, said the Colombian would “come to Valencia on foot” if that was a real possibility.
As Char suggested, Rodriguez was linked with Serie A side Lazio, but that was firmly ruled out last week by the club’s sporting director Angelo Fabiani. The Lazio project, according to Fabiani, will be based on signing younger players.
“I would never sign James,” Fabiani said. “He is 33 and has never played more than 12 or 13 games per season in recent years. He played very well in the last Copa America, but signing him for one or two years defies all logic.”
Colombia lost the Copa America final to Argentina (Rodrigo Caillaud/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Rodriguez made 22 appearances in his year at Sao Paulo, scoring two goals and providing four assists in another disappointing chapter of his career, which included spells at Everton in the Premier League, Olympiacos in Greece and Qatari club Al Rayyan. During that time he was banned from the Colombian national team until current coach Nestor Lorenzo offered him a rescue.
Rodriguez is transformed when he plays for his country, but it’s more than just national pride. Colombia has long relied on the creative abilities of the traditional playmaker who wears the No. 10 shirt.
In Colombia, Rodriguez’s ability and vision in the attacking half-space are valued. He has the freedom to receive the ball in midfield, help overload a wing or play as a second striker – freedoms not granted to many players in Europe’s top five leagues.
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The pace of the modern game and the demands placed on every player to be versatile don’t help him. When he has the ball, Rodriguez is almost flawless and gives his all on the pitch. But the Colombian’s talents are best utilised in a tactical framework that suits a player like him, who comes from the past.
Lorenzo’s Colombian national team plays in a flexible 4-2-3-1 formation that suits his skills well. The level-headed Argentine coach believes in this version of Rodriguez, a player who runs less now but still puts in game-winning performances at international level. Lorenzo and Rodriguez have developed a close relationship, something Rodriguez has not experienced with many coaches.
“James is looking for his future, his future club,” Lorenzo told Colombian radio station Caracol last week. “He will let us know as soon as it is official and he signs with a club. If he asks (for advice), we will talk. Where should he go? Wherever he will play. Where he will be an important player, where the coach wants him. That’s all I can say at this point.”
Rodriguez is represented by Jorge Mendes, one of the most influential agents in football. Various football market value websites estimate that the midfielder is currently worth $5 million. He joined Everton from Real Madrid just four years ago for a transfer fee estimated at $25 million. His current transfer value is not an obstacle for any club – it is his salary.
In 2017, Forbes magazine ranked Rodriguez 91st as one of the world’s highest-paid athletes. He has since disappeared from that list, but Brazilian press reported this month that Rodriguez earned $300,000 a month at Sao Paulo. According to AFP, Rodriguez gave up $3 million in bonuses and allowances to terminate his contract.
Rodriguez during his time at Sao Paulo (Diego Lima/AFP via Getty Images)
Since then, the New Balance-sponsored Rodriguez has been training on his own, first in Miami after the Copa America final and most recently in Colombia. Rodriguez is an avid gamer, so his fans often find him on his own Twitch channel. It was on this platform in April that Rodriguez spoke for the first time about how he envisions the end of his career.
“The plan is to play in the (2026) World Cup (in the United States, Canada and Mexico) and then think carefully,” he said. “I want to finish my career while playing in a big competition and in a good team. Take advantage of me now and watch me in the next three years because they could be my last.”
On August 2, as the stream with Pelicanger was nearly over, Rodriguez asked the influencer and the hundreds of fans in the chatroom if they wanted to know where he was going next. Visibly surprised by the possibility of a worldwide exclusivity on his stream, Pelicanger shouted, “Everybody smile! We’ll be on ESPN!” The feed was filled with shocked emojis in anticipation of Rodriguez’s big reveal.
“You want to know where I’m going next?” Rodriguez asked again as he got up from his gaming chair. “I’m going home, guys.”
The European transfer window closes on August 30, so Rodriguez and Mendes have a few weeks to complete their move to a new team, with South American World Cup qualifiers expected to resume in September.
Colombia travel to Peru on September 6 and host Argentina in Barranquilla four days later. If Rodriguez is without a club during the next FIFA international period, his future will be even more uncertain than it is now.
(Top photo by Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
