James Rodríguez receives bad news: Rafa Benítez could be the coach of Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo, the team in which the Colombian James Rodríguez plays, has not had a good start in the Brazilian championship. They lost the first two games of the tournament and are in second-to-last place in the standings.

This Thursday, the São Paulo tricolor, without the presence of James due to injury, lost 2-1 against Flamengo at the Maracaná. On the first day they had lost against Fortaleza at home, on Saturday.

The bad campaign would have the managers with the idea of ​​looking for a new coach to replace Thiago Carpini, who arrived at the beginning of this year to replace Dorival Junior, who left to lead the Brazil National Team.

“Whether the board has been talking with other names or not, I don't know. I want to believe not, because we have always had a very respectful relationship on both sides. So I see it as speculation,” Carpini said after the defeat against Flamengo.

According to journalist Gabriel Sá, the same one who announced at the time James' intentions to leave Sao Paulo, there is already a name that is being talked about to reach the technical direction. And, clearly, it is not good news for the Colombian.

This is the Spanish Rafa Benítez, with whom James already crossed paths at Real Madrid, in the 2015-16 season, and at Everton in England, where he arrived in 2021. His arrival accelerated the departure of the '10', who left at that time to play for Al-Rayyan in Qatar.

“The strongest name behind the scenes in São Paulo for a new coach is that of the Spanish Rafa Benítez. The deal is done with the help of Giuliano Bertolucci. The parties are confident of a positive result. The talks began on Sunday,” Sá wrote in your X account.

In a broadcast on Twitch, James recalled what the talk with Benítez was like that made him leave the Premier League. “The coach told me on the first day of the preseason: 'Look, you're old now, you're 30 years old, I prefer to have young people, people with a lot of strength, with a lot of energy, who run, so find a club.'”

Benítez's shadow seems to haunt James. At the time he was also close to joining Olympiacos. “I told the manager: in three months, this guy is going to be out. I know some football. I was already with him and it's screwed (…) and after three months, he's out,” said the Colombian.

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