Exclusive: Carlton Palmer tells Rafael Benitez not to lose “quality” James Rodriguez | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer reckons that a conversation needs to take place between Rafa Benitez and James Rodriguez over the Colombian’s Everton future.

Rodriguez only made the switch to the Premier League last summer, but his Toffees career has been in major doubt since Carlo Ancelotti returned to Real Madrid last month.

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But whilst another reunion with the Italian at Madrid is now looking unlikely, AC Milan have entered the race to sign the former Monaco and Bayern Munich attacker, who’s got just 12 months left on his deal.

Rodriguez made an impressive start to his Everton career, scoring plenty and assisting even more as Ancelotti’s side topped the Premier League during the early weeks, ending the campaign with six goals and nine assists in 26 appearances in all competitions.

However, an ongoing calf problem saw the 29-year-old miss the best part of four months between December and March, with Rodriguez’s lack of minutes seeing him left out of the Colombian squad for the Copa America.

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Despite uncertainties over his future, he’s currently in USA with the rest of the Everton squad for their pre-season tour of Orlando.

And Palmer exclusively told Football FanCast that he thinks Rodriguez is someone Benitez needs to keep on board:

“I’m sure Rafa is going to sit down with him and talk. He had a lot of injuries in the second half of the season, and I believe he’s the highest paid player at the football club.

“He’s a talented player, so I’m sure Rafa will sit down and talk to him, maybe he’s got over his injuries.

“The one thing you don’t want to do as a football manager, you don’t want to let good players leave the building if you can help it.”