From France: Everton player in talks with specific club over transfer

James Rodriguez being spotted at Manchester Airport at the weekend understandably encouraged claims around the player’s transfer future.

Having missed various transfer deadlines around world football, the Colombian player is limited in his options if he wants to leave Everton before the winter market begins.

Rafael Benitez clearly isn’t counting on the player, just like the Colombia national manager hasn’t been recently, and Foot Mercato now say the club James is in talks with is Al-Rayyan.

Despite being in France, Foot Mercato have had a string of reports on James’ future in recent months. They state the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich player is in talks with the Qatari club to try and agree a deal before the window there closes on September 30th.

Al-Rayyan are managed by Laurent Blanc, and James would be their stand-out player by far, with the next most known to a European audience likely Yacine Brahimi.

Now it’s time to see whether James Rodriguez will actually sign a contract, or just spend a few days taking in the Qatari sun.