The skilled footballer was released by Rayo Vallecano of LaLiga due to a lack of enough minutes of participation, something that he more or less gets himself. As he had created some issues, inside the locker room. In any case, the golden mean was found and James ended his collaboration with the Spanish team.

Now in Mexico, James Rodriguez's goal is to play a decisive role and influence Lyon's game as much as possible so that it can star at home and abroad. After all, we must not forget that Leon is one of the 32 teams that will participate in the expanded Club World Cup that will be held in the summer in the United States.

James, despite the fact that in his homeland he was criticized because while he was in contact with Junior de Barranquilla, in order to return and continue his career there, he preferred the tempting offer of the Mexican team.

But the real reason was not money, since James is one of the richest footballers in Latin America. Something that the owner of the Colombian team, Fuad Char, also admitted. The main reason Rodriguez didn't want to join Eduardo Berizzo's team was the fact that he wants to close his international career playing good football at a club that has great potential.

"I don't think it's a question of money. Obviously, Leon's offer was better than Junior's, but it's not about money because James Rodriguez still wants to succeed in international football and he knows that there are important things in Mexican football... he still has international challenges.

"He was very clear that he wants to close his international career playing good football at a club that allows him to be at a high level and I think he sees that in Leon,"   Tito Puccetti, a Colombian journalist, told TUDN.

The former Real Madrid ace wants to stand out at a high level and Leon's participation in the World Cup against Chelsea, Esperance Sportive de Tunis, and Flamengo, who are together in Group D, gives James the opportunity to stand out. The 34-year-old footballer's contract runs until the end of the year, with Leon being the twelfth team in James' career, who also played for Olympiacos in the 2022/23 season.