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Sources: Everton star was handed astonishing £250,000-a-week deal by Brands
Everton failed to offload James Rodriguez during the summer window because no club was willing to pay his astonishing £250,000-a-week salary, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.
The Merseysiders made the Colombian attacking midfielder one of the best-paid players in the Premier League when he joined in the summer of 2020.
An Everton source has told Football Insider the enormous deal handed to Rodriguez, 30, amounts to more than £1million each month.
The deal, which was negotiated by sporting director Marcel Brands, is the highest ever paid to an Everton player.
The value of the two-year agreement, which expires next summer, was the key factor in the Premier League club failing to offload Rodriguez in the recently-shut window.
New manager Rafael Benitez had sanctioned the exit of the Colombia international following a mixed debut season that failed to live up to early expectations.
Benitez has lamented how financial fair play restrictions stopped Everton spending big in the summer market.
The club spent only £1.7million on transfer fees, a far cry from their £100million-plus sprees of previous summer windows during the Farhad Moshiri era.
Everton were keen to get Rodriguez’s salary off the wage bill and bring in players more suited to Benitez’s playing style.
The former Real Madrid star has yet to feature for the Merseysiders under their new manager.
He was a regular under Carlo Ancelotti last term, making 21 Premier League starts among 26 appearances in all competitions.
Those yielded six goals and nine assists, a combined tally that was third only to Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison.
In other news, a “staggering” BBC update on Everton player has pundit fuming.