Lucas Moura speaks out about James Rodríguez: “He dropped the ball”

Presented together to the fans of São Paulo in 2023, Lucas Moura and James Rodriguez were the main signings of the São Paulo club in the middle of last year. However, just over a year after his announcement, the Colombian midfielder terminated his contract with Tricolor and no longer plays for the current champion of Brazil Cup.

Since James' arrival, São Paulo has had three coaches and none of them had the midfielder as an essential part of the squad. After some episodes of wear and tear, Lucas Moura reveals that the player's most critical moment at the club was refusing to travel to Belo Horizonte for the King Super Cupin the end before the Palm trees.

In an interview with 'ESPN', Lucas gave his opinion on his ex-partner's decision and stated that he was wrong in that situation. “He messed up, he knows. He should have traveled with us. He later apologized to the group, but he messed up, it was a decision, everyone was there, he wasn’t.”said the player.

In total, James Rodríguez played 22 games for São Paulo, scored two goals, provided four assists and had some tense moments within the club. Lucas Moura confirmed that the Colombian had problems with the board, the squad tried to keep him around, but ended up failing.

“He had problems with the board, contract issues, and problems with São Paulo. We spoke to him a few times, we talked about his importance, his quality, and how much he could help us. (…) I don't know how much he wanted to be here, maybe he came here thinking one thing. It wasn't what he thought.”commented the number 7 of Tricolor Paulista.