Everton star was “like Messi” when he signed, then he left as a giant flop

When Carlo Ancelotti, one of football’s most decorated modern coaches, was anointed as the new Everton boss in December 2019, it carried all the signs of a watershed moment.

Ancelotti, a three-time Champions League-winning manager (now five-time) was regarded as a ‘Hollywood’ arrival for one of England’s most prestigious outfits.

Nonetheless, Everton had fallen by the wayside under the deposed Marco Silva and needed such a leader to spearhead a renaissance back to the upper echelons of the Premier League, and perhaps into European prominence thereafter.

It didn’t happen. Ancelotti was tempted by the wafty aromas of Real Madrid, and who can blame him? He steadied the ship at Goodison Park and recorded a 59-point tenth-placed finish in 2020/21, merely ten points behind Liverpool in third.

His transfer business held so much promise, albeit largely falling apart once he left for Spanish riches.

Carlo Ancelotti’s first transfers at Everton

He probably didn’t have that much influence with this deal, but Ancelotti’s tenure began, transfer-wise, with the £1m winter acquisition of Jarrad Branthwaite from Carlisle United. A 17-year-old prospect at the time, it’s safe to say that one’s paid off.

That was all she wrote for the 2019/20 winter market on the blue side of the River Mersey, but the heralded Italian manager was allowed to leave his imprint on the Toffees the following summer, signing Allan from his previous club Napoli for a £20m fee after landing Ben Godfrey and Abdoulaye Doucoure from English teams.

Some neat stuff, players who would make an impact that year as Everton finished tenth, commendably so.

Oh yes, James Rodriguez was also brought in from Real Madrid for a smart £12m sum. Ancelotti’s contacts stretched far and wide and bore dividends for Everton.

Or so it seemed.

Why James Rodriguez left Everton as a flop

One of Colombia’s greatest players and a household name for football fans, Everton’s coup was regarded as something special. Rodriguez rose to fame at the 2014 World Cup and earned a transfer to Los Blancos that totalled £71m, with Ancelotti at the helm.

Whether he flattered to deceive is debatable, for he recorded 79 direct goal contributions across 125 matches, lifting the Champions League twice and La Liga two times more.

Injuries, inconsistency and fitness-related issues have left Rodriguez with a great career instead of an immortal legacy beyond the confines of his homeland. At Everton, having fallen out of favour at Real after two years on loan with Bayern Munich, he felt the chance to showcase his talent and enjoy a resurgence befitting his elite-level quality.

Compounding the misery, it’s believed that Everton shattered their wage structure to facilitate the marquee move, offering the South American playmaker a £250k-per-week salary that eclipsed the earnings of any of his teammates.

That pay packet was believed to form the crux of a botched effort to offload him during the 2021 summer transfer window, with suitors unwilling to meet the exorbitant figure.

And that’s despite his comparatively impressive campaign in the Premier League, posting six goals and four assists across 23 matches while averaging 1.8 key passes per game. Clearly, he could change matches in an instant, but when Ancelotti jumped ship, Rodriguez fled soon after.

Rafa Benitez’s authoritarian managerial approach ran counter to Rodriguez’s stance on his football, so it’s unsurprising, but his wages proved to be a problem for the European scene and he ended up signing for Qatari side Al-Rayyan for an undisclosed fee.

Ancelotti clearly loved the midfielder but did acknowledge his certain laziness on the field, likening him to the Brazilian Ronaldo for his skillset, so replete with awe-inspiring ability, but lacking in effort and determination.

There really was a superabundance of style oozing from this mercurial talent. The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland even went as far as to remark that Rodriguez had “passing like Messi” when he joined the club, but admitted that “there is no obvious place for the Colombian in Benitez’s system,” several months later down the line.

“For me, it is not a surprise. These qualities I saw in Madrid and at Bayern Munich” – Carlo Ancelotti.

Everton had a glimpse, but not enough. It was a sobering reality. He’d left Liverpool aglow when arriving, but left with his head hung. Financial difficulties forced his exit, but for all his quality, Rodriguez’s fitness record left plenty to be desired and imposed upon the talent that simply didn’t match the cost of keeping him.

His departure signalled a step away from the realm of the panache and into a future of industriousness. Hard work. Authority. Thing is, though, it hasn’t paid off, and now the whole thing can only be looked at poignantly from all angles.

The signs of inconsistency were there. In 2016, journalist Kieran Canning commented on Rodriguez’s struggles in the Spanish capital: “At this stage of last season, James Rodriguez was Madrid’s best player. His fall this season to being behind Lucas, Jese & Isco alarming.”

The 112-cap Colombia international is undoubtedly an iconic player and one of the most talented to grace Goodison Park across its modern history, but flashes of brilliance are negated by a lack of overall fluency and commitment.

Flashes of brilliance give rise to difference-making moments, but these are few and far between. Rodriguez could have been so much more, and while Everton fans are grateful for the good times, it was a deal that was emblematic of the recruitment problems that have thrown the Merseysiders into the morass in which they presently languish.