Minnesota United officially announced the signing of international star James Rodr\u00edguez, who will begin his first spell in Major League Soccer. Rodr\u00edguez will not occupy a Designated Player spot, and the deal is a short-term agreement set to run at least through the World Cup. The Colombian midfielder joins as a free agent after his contract with Liga MX side Leon expired in December.<\/p>\n
Cameron Knowles will have his first marquee signing as head coach with the arrival of Rodriguez, adding creativity and explosiveness to Minnesota United\u2019s midfield. The former Real Madrid star has signed a short-term deal with the Loons, who finished fourth in the Western Conference last season and were eliminated in the conference semifinals.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s the club that moved forward the most, it\u2019s the club that wants me,” Rodriguez said when asked about his decision to sign with Minnesota instead of MLS’ more marquee warm-weather teams. “When people want you, you have to give everything for them. You have to be fully focused here, train really well, and be ready to help.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m in a unique and important stage of my career – I have the World Cup, I can\u2019t fail. I have to do things right, and I\u2019m very focused. It\u2019s true that this was one of the main reasons why I could come here. The World Cup is a reason for me to be here. I want to be at my best and be able to win in Minnesota. I want them to get to know me, and for me to get to know them.”<\/p>\n
It is a unique fit, though, as Minnesota United were one of the least possession-based teams in MLS last season. That certainly could change with the addition of the Colombian star, who has played for the likes of Real Madrid, Monaco, Porto, Bayern Munich, and Everton throughout his illustrious career.<\/p>\n
Liga de Quito and Barcelona SC in Ecuador were among the clubs that showed interest in the midfielder, while Estudiantes de La Plata and Banfield – where he previously played – also inquired about his availability. Ultimately, the Colombian chose MLS as his destination in order to arrive in the best possible shape for the World Cup, where Colombia has been drawn into a group with Uzbekistan, Portugal, and one team to emerge from a playoff between Jamaica, Congo, and New Caledonia.<\/p>\n
“I come from a strong, physical league [in Liga MX],” he said. “Last July, I had the opportunity to play against several MLS teams in the Leagues Cup – they\u2019re tough, physical teams. Football is the same everywhere; when you arrive at a new home, you have to adapt to the rules. I\u2019m coming to be one more of the group, to adapt to the style the coach wants. It\u2019s a process – some processes are longer, others shorter – but when you\u2019re good, everything becomes easier.”<\/p>\n
He continued: “I wanted this league, I wanted to play here. The negotiations took time, but it happened. When they trust you, you have to give everything so everyone feels good. I\u2019m here to help and to win things – that\u2019s what I want. I always want to win.”<\/p>\n
Rodriguez acknowledged there is potential for him to extend his stay in MLS.<\/p>\n
“The idea is for the contract to be six months with an option for another six months, and many things can happen,” he said. “We\u2019re in an exciting moment, and after the World Cup we\u2019ll talk about whether to extend the contract in a way that\u2019s best for both sides. It could be extended beyond the 12 months.”<\/p>\n
The signing of James adds to the arrival of forward Marcus Caldeira at Minnesota, who signed a one-year contract through 2026, as well as Mauricio Gonzalez from Colombia\u2019s first-division side Deportes Tolima. Additionally, Knowles begins his tenure with the club following the departure of Eric Ramsay, who left for the EFL Championship.<\/p>\n
Minnesota United will open the season on Feb. 21 with a road match against Austin FC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Minnesota United officially announced the signing of international star James Rodr\u00edguez, who will begin his first spell in Major League Soccer. Rodr\u00edguez will not occupy a Designated Player spot, and the deal is a short-term agreement set to run at least through the World Cup. The Colombian midfielder joins as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}