James Rodriguez missed Everton’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday as part of a scheme to keep him out of the Copa America.
That’s the bold claim from former Colombian international Iván René Valenciano, who says Everton don’t want to given Rodriguez to the national team.
The Colombian was a surprise absentee from the win over Wolves yesterday, having been expected to start the game beforehand.
Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti later confirmed that the midfielder had missed the game due to feeling ‘fatigued’ after returning from injury to face Sheffield United last Sunday.
His latest absence has already sparked a raft of theories about why he is missing out, with it already said to be concerning Colombia boss Reinaldo Rueda ahead of the Copa America this summer.
Rodriguez has already been named in the squad for that tournament and will be a key player in his country’s hopes of success.
Valenciano, though, believes Everton are doing everything they can to stop Rodriguez from linking up with his country.
“I’m going to give you some news that has just been passed on to me… James didn’t play today because Everton don’t want to loan him out to the national team,” he told the VBAR Caracol program, relayed by Infobae.
“It’s a serious situation because when you don’t want to loan a player to the national team, it seems to me that they’re going to do everything they can to try to prove that he can’t play.
“If they show that he is injured and that he is not fit to play, he is under no obligation to come.
“I think that is where the player should intervene, talk to the club and tell him, I want to go to my national team and I will do everything possible to go if he feels physically fit to come.
“This has a process, Everton communicates to the Federation that the player is injured and must send everything that has been done to him.
“If the Colombian Federation is not calm with what the team has sent, it can do all the checks to see if it is okay. It is not an easy issue and more so on a FIFA date.”
