Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez has signed for Everton because of Carlo Ancelotti who stopped Arsenal signing him in 2017.

When Arsenal were heavily linked with a move for David Ospina’s brother-on-law in 2017, it was reported that James was willing to snub Arsenal’s interest in order to reunite with then-Bayern Munich manager, Carlo Ancelotti.

The Colombian has been seeking a permanent way out of Real Madrid for a while. Signed in 2014, he was sent on loan in 2017 to Germany and, of course, Ancelotti.

Looking for more first team football when Arsenal were trying to lure him to London, it was reported he wanted to play for Ancelotti again, even though Arsenal were believed to have made a ‘lucrative bid’ for his services in June, 2017.

It’s was always highly unlikely Rodriguez would chose Arsenal over Bayern, unless he wasn’t guaranteed playing time in the Bundesliga, but his positive relationship with Ancelotti now seems to be a far more telling factor than first thought given James has now followed him to Everton.

https://twitter.com/Everton/status/1303045630290546688

It was Ancelotti who brought Rodriguez to Madrid in 2014 after his wonderful World Cup performances. The Colombian had an impressive first season in Spain too, scoring 13 goals in 29 La Liga appearances.

After that, though, Rodriguez was in-and-out of the Madrid team and left after manager Zinedine Zidane omitted him from of his Champions League final squad.

Arsenal reportedly had a bid rejected by Madrid as it fell short of their £69.8m valuation.

As for Everton, I’m delighted to see them signing players like James. They are a giant that has slept far too long.