James Rodríguez to Join León | OneFootball

James Rodríguez is once more searching for a new club after ending his contract in Spain with Rayo Vallecano. Joining the club in August, Rodríguez featured seven times but is in search of more regular minutes.

At the age of 33, the Colombian international began his career with Enviago before switching to Banfield of Argentina at 17. After two years in Argentina, the attacking midfielder caught European interest and signed for Porto. Three years later Rodríguez became the second most expensive sale in Portuguese football, moving to Monaco for €45 million.

One year at Monaco was enough as Rodríguez starred at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Man of the Match performances against Greece and Ivory Coast set the tone, but it was in the Round of 16 against Uruguay where he truly made his mark. Rodríguez scored both goals, including an unforgettable long-range volley that would later earn the FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal of the year. Colombia’s run ended in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 loss to Brazil, but Rodríguez's brilliance had already left a lasting impression on the tournament.

Colombia v Uruguay: Round of 16 - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil | Julian Finney/GettyImages

His performances at the World Cup earned him a dream move to Real Madrid for €73 million, making him the third most expensive signing in Los Blancos history. While Rodríguez often struggled to stand out amidst the wealth of talent at the club, he was part of a dominant era, winning two La Liga titles, two UEFA Champions League trophies, two FIFA Club World Cups, and two UEFA Super Cups.

In 2017, Rodríguez signed a two-year loan deal to Bayern Munich. At that time, his stock began to fall as the German side opted against signing him permanently, but he went on to collect two Bundesliga titles and lifted the 2019 DFB-Pokal.

At the end of his spell in Germany, Rodríguez's career took an unexpected turn. A strong start to the season with Everton under Carlo Ancelotti faded after the Italian manager departed for a return to Real Madrid. Following a lacklustre second half of the campaign, Rodríguez left England after just 12 months and made the move to Al-Rayyan.

A year in Qatar saw the Colombian play 13 games as he was offloaded and picked up by Olympiacos in Greece. Rodríguez featured 20 times and racked up eight goals and assists during the 2022-23 season. Nonetheless, he went on to spend just one season with the club before signing for Brazilian side São Paulo.

In Brazil, Rodríguez scored once in 12 games marking a unpredictable fall from grace from the player who lit up the World Cup ten years prior. Unsurprisingly, the Série A side decided against keeping the midfielder as he was once again searching for a new club.

His move to Rayo Vallecano became his fifth signing in four years, struggling to find a consistent form across three different continents.

Despite his struggles in club football, Rodríguez appeared to be back to his best on the international stage. He captained Colombia to the 2024 Copa América final, playing a pivotal role in their campaign before falling short against Argentina in the title match.

Notice of his availability became public knowledge at the end of December as León moved quickly to secure the services of Rodríguez. As told by Paco Vela, León are aiming to seal the deal as soon as possible.

The start of the Clausura in Mexico begins this weekend although Los Leones kickstart their season next weekend with the visit to Guadalajara to face Atlas. León finished the Apertura in 11th place, just four points off of the Play-In places. Across the 17 league matches, their top goalscorer was Jhonder Cadíz, who netted five goals.