“I drank wine from Everton supporters and wanted to stay, but Rafael Benitez forced me out, it was a real shame, I could have gone on to play two or three seasons more at the club but the manager said that he wouldn’t be wanting me to be involved at all”- James Rodriguez reflects on time at Everton in interview as Colombian midfielder says he didn’t want to leave Everton but was forced out

James Rodriguez has lifted the lid on what he did with a bottle of wine handed to him by an Evertonian on County Road while also admitting his regrets over the managerial clash that ensured he departed Goodison Park without ever playing in front of Blues fans.

In a wide-ranging interview published by the club four years to the day after the Colombian superstar signed for them from Real Madrid, James speaks candidly about his surreal solitary season on Merseyside when matches were mostly played behind closed doors because of restrictions due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Arguably the most-colourful tale from 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner surrounds a gift he received from a supporter who blew him a kiss after West Bromwich Albion were despatched 5-2 at an empty Goodison Park in his home debut on September 19, 2020 – a game in which he provided both a goal and an assist.

Asked if he remembered being handed the bottle of Echo Falls wine, James told Everton’s official YouTube channel:

“Yes, as I was leaving after the game, the guy spotted me and came right up to me and said: ‘Hang on, hang on, I’ve got something for you,’ and he handed me a bottle of red! I remember we’d just won our first home game, so he gave me the wine and, of course, I drank it at home.”

Fitness issues ensured James would only play once in Everton’s final half dozen matches as they eventually slumped to finish 10th in a season in which they’d been tipped for European qualification under Carlo Ancelotti but the attacking midfielder remains proud to be part of the first Blues side to defeat Liverpool in a Merseyside Derby at Anfield since 1999, having set up fellow South American Richarlison for the opening goal just three minutes into the contest.

He said: “I believed we all had the qualities that you needed to be able to go and win at Anfield. I had a sneaky feeling that we could go there and win.

“Above all, given that Liverpool as a club have always been in decent form in recent years, it made going there and winning quite a big achievement. I think we played very well in that game and it will last long in the memory of all the fans that wanted us to beat them and it was something that will be remembered forever among the fanbase.”

With Ancelotti, a manager who had signed him twice before at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, returning to the Bernabeu at the end of the season, James found himself surplus to requirements under Rafael Benitez having previously clashed with the fellow Hispanophone while in the Spanish capital. The result was a switch to Qatari club Al-Rayyan for an undisclosed fee.

James said: “I’ve spoken about this in interviews before and I didn’t want to leave the club either, but the new manager had arrived, and we all know who that is, and he said I wasn’t going to feature in his plans. I never wanted to leave, that much is obvious, I felt I could have gone on to play two or three seasons more at the club but it’s plain to see that the manager said that he wouldn’t be wanting me to be involved at all.

“The supporters wanted me to stay, and so did I, but in the end, that’s just football for you. What happened then is now all in the past, but it was a real shame because I believed that I could have gone on to achieve more in my time at Everton Football Club. I feel like I could have brought more happiness to the fans.”