After an excellent performance at the 2024 Copa América, where he took home the title of best player of the tournament, James Rodríguez made his return to European professional football official by joining Rayo Vallecano of Spain’s Primera División.
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The captain of the Colombian national team will be the ’10’ of the Madrid club and will be with the team initially until June of next year. While the euphoria over the arrival of the talented left-hander to the Vallecas team calms down, the Spanish press has reacted to the signing of the player from Cúcuta.
In The beach barone of the most famous football debate programmes in Spain, did not spare praise for the signing of the Colombian, which they described as the most important in recent years at Rayo: “He will not go below ten assists”, “a gift for La Liga”, “the best signing in recent years”, “the best signing of the tournament”, “the best left-footer in America”.
The diary AS of Spain highlighted in an article dedicated to the arrival of the Cucuteño to the Madrid team that “Rayo Vallecano already has its star for the centenary”, while in the Sports World They recalled the past with Real Madrid and evoking the legendary talent of Ronaldo and Figo, they said: “Rayo already has its ‘galactico’ for the Centennial year of the striped team.”
For his part, the Colombian has shown his happiness at joining a team that competes in the first division of the most important leagues in Europe, and James Rodríguez even commented a few words to the club after his arrival in Madrid.
“I feel a great joy, at a club like Rayo, which is historic. I really want to do things well. Wherever I go, I feel that responsibility. I like to win. Also, in such an important year for the club (…) It has been many days of work, but we are here now.“I would like to thank the club and the president, and I am looking forward to playing in this historic stadium and dreaming of great things.”
Regarding his compatriot and also a key player for the national team, Radamel Falcao García, the man from Cucuta said that he hopes to respond to the fans and supporters just as ‘El Tigre’ did when he left Rayo Vallecano in the last transfer market to join Millonarios.
“Falcao is an idol for all of Colombia, he has done a lot for our country. I hope to perform well here like he did. The atmosphere is very good here, they were very supportive.”
The arrival of James Rodriguez marks a milestone for Rayo Vallecano, a team with a much more modest budget compared to giants such as Barcelona or Real Madrid. This addition has been so significant that one of those involved in his arrival in Vallecas compared the situation to one of the most iconic episodes in the history of world football.
This is Raúl Martín Presa, president of Rayo Vallecano, who made a Similarity between the arrival of the talented Colombian to the Madrid club and that of the historic Diego Armando Maradona to Napoli from Italy around the 1980s.
“Rayo Vallecano achieved something historic; bringing the best player from the last great tournament of nations that has been played, the Copa América, to a humble but ambitious team like Rayo Vallecano. It is something comparable to what happened 38 years ago, when a newly promoted team in Italy like Napoli signed Diego Armando Maradona.”.
James Rodriguez joins Rayo Vallecano from Sao Paulo, after a discreet spell at the Brazilian club. The Colombian player was coming off a bad streak with questionable performances in teams in England, Greece, Qatar and finally Brazil. However, His impressive performance at the 2024 Copa América, where he finished runner-up with the Colombian national team, rekindled the interest of clubs worldwide.
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