Updated 23:34, 23 May 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nJames Rodriguez celebrates after scoring against Crystal Palace at Goodison Park on April 5, 2021. Photo by PETER POWELL\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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James Rodriguez said Everton carry a special place in his heart and that he had thought about returning in the years since he left.<\/p>\n
The playmaker spent just over a year at the Blues, making a stunning initial impression after Carlo Ancelotti signed him from Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
But his impact faded amid injury issues in a stint hit by the Covid pandemic and the arrival of Rafa Benitez was soon followed by his departure to Qatar in September 2021.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, a two-time Champions League winner, scored six goals and provided nine assists across 26 games in Royal Blue – none of which were in front of supporters.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye insists Senegal are African champions – ‘I just hope they put it right’<\/span><\/span>READ MORE: Rafa Benitez sacked as former Everton and Liverpool boss leaves fourth club in five years<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nHe reflected on his time at Goodison Park in an interview with Blues supporter Roger Bennett on the football show Men In Blazers<\/u>aiming a dig at the changes Benitez made to the team after Ancelotti returned to the Bernabeu but stressing he felt a connection with Everton fans.<\/p>\n
The Colombia international, now aged 34, said: \u201cI think at Everton I\u2026 had a good season, I think the fans and the supporters know that it was a short time but it was very intense. I think there was a connection between them and me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, I feel l could have stayed much longer but the coach who came after changed the whole team and I don\u2019t think he managed it well. But anyway I am an Everton fan who always wants the club to succeed and, to the Everton fans, just know that my feelings for you are special and I carry you in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez was told of the links to a reunion that had circulated in the years since and suggested he would like to visit the new Hill Dickinson Stadium.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThat is something I have thought about too (returning to Everton), during the pandemic they didn\u2019t really get to see me, the fans couldn\u2019t go to the stadium but maybe one day, maybe sometime I will go to the new stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go with the fans, I\u2019ll say hello so that they can see me because I also wanted to see them, to be able to be with them on the field but maybe one day I\u2019ll go to the new stadium and say hello\u2026 the last dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
FOLLOW OUR EVERTON FC FACEBOOK PAGE!<\/strong> Latest EFC news and analysis from via the Liverpool Echo\u2019s dedicated FB page<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The playmaker spent a year with the Blues after being signed by Carlo Ancelotti 16:09,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}