James Rodríguez's stay in São Paulo takes an unusual turn

It seems that the Colombian midfielder James Rodríguez will receive a new opportunity in São Paulo. Two weeks after expressing his desire to leave the São Paulo club, there was no financial agreement between both parties and now a new conversation with the board and the coach himself Thiago Carpini may have left the player determined to return to play for Tricolor. The information was given by the journalist Renata Saporitofrom “Transamérica”, and confirmed by “GE”.

Even though we are outside the list of 26 names that can compete in the first phase of the Paulista championship, James can be registered if São Paulo advances to the quarterfinals of the state. The regulations allow the replacement of up to four athletes on the team's original list. Today, Tricolor is outside the classification zone, but has one game less than its opponents due to the postponement of the match against Inter de Limeirawhich takes place next Wednesday, the 28th.

Outside of the plans, James continued training every day at CT. In recent interviews, Carpini said that the athlete had been suffering from physical problems. “When we increase the load a little, he has chronic discomfort in his calf, and then he can't reach his best. As a coach, I make the decisions. I respect everyone, and I have James' feeling, I need him to feel safe to play. I didn't feel safe compromising the entire system, I would have to adjust many things for it to be part of it. I think things are going well. He has to adapt to São Paulo. Of course, when he is on the field we will create alternatives to help him, but when he meets the conditions in all aspects, physically, mentally and to be in São Paulo and help us”said the coach, on the 5th.

Three days later, he confirmed that the midfielder had asked to leave. “Our period together was short, I have nothing to say about the athlete and the human being. What got in the way a little was the load control we did in the pre-season due to a little discomfort in my calf. He had already had this injury in the national team. We started to take care of her so that she could have conditions as soon as possible. But it is the athlete's own interest (to leave). It's not my business anymore. Technically, we know what he represents and represented for football. It would even be redundant of me. Let's understand the processes. It wasn't a technical decision, it wasn't a club decision. It was the athlete’s own decision.”, he commented. James Rodríguez played 14 games for São Paulo, scoring just one goal.