James Rodriguez has admitted he found things ‘very hard’ at Everton, hinting he was not happy at Goodison Park or with manager Rafa Benitez.
The Colombian completed a move to Qatar to join Al Rayyan this week after a summer of speculation about his future.
It had been felt the midfielder was likely to leave Everton after the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, who had been a key factor in him joining the Blues in the first place.
He was linked with clubs all around Europe but ultimately couldn’t find one to take on his wages, hence the move to Qatar instead.
He was unveiled as a new player by Al Rayyan today and hinted things had been hard for him at Goodison alongside comments that could be seen as a dig at Everton boss Benitez when talking about his lack of game time.
“I’m happy to be here; it’s a new chapter for me,” Depor report him saying.
“I hope I can do well, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to play a lot, and here I’m going to do it with the help of everyone, with the help of the coach, and I hope to do good things.
“It has been very hard for me, and this is good. I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of days and I want to thank everyone who has always been here.”
“It’s a culture that I like a lot, a football that is growing,” added Semana.
“The most important thing is that I will be able to play, which is what I like to do the most. I just want to be happy doing this.”
