James David Rodriguez was born on the 12 July 1991 in Cacuta, Colombia. James began his football career as a young teenager when he was spotted at the Pony Futbol Championship which is famous as a breeding ground for footballing talent in Colombia. The likes of Radamel Falcao (1998) were spotted in previous years at the famous competition. James Rodriguez was spotted in the competition in 2004 after he stole the show by becoming the competition’s top scorer, best player and scoring a wonder goal straight from a corner kick.
Rodriguez began his professional career at Colombian Division Two side Envigado FC where he also made it into the first team in 2007 at the tender age of 16. In his first season at Envigado he managed to score 9 goals in 30 appearances. In 2008, the Colombian moved on to Argentine side Club Atletico Banfield where he spent almost three seasons before making a big move to Europe when Porto FC signed him in 2010. Porto spent €5.1m on the attacking midfielder and he turned out to be a bargain during his three seasons at the club. In his first season he scored six goals and assisted a further eight in 24 appearances. In the 2011-12 season he became an important member of the squad as he scored 14 goals, made 11 assists and won the LFPF Award for Breakthrough Player of the Year, despite being just twenty years of age. This achievement made him the second Colombian after Falcao to win this award and the youngest ever recipient.
James’ outstanding season did not go unnoticed as he caught the attention of Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson who attempted to bring the young star to Old Trafford in the summer of 2012. Porto prevented this from happening by increasing his buyout clause and rewarded the youngster by handing him the number 10 shirt. He continued his great form in the 2012-13 season by racking up 12 goals and 8 assists which would have undoubtedly been a lot more if he had not struggled with a hamstring problem. James also played a huge role in Porto’s Champions League run in the same season, scoring the winner against French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Monaco came in with a mega €45m offer last summer for the young attacking midfielder which made him the second most expensive transfer out of the Portuguese league, after Hulk.
In James’ first season in France, he played in 38 games scoring ten goals and completing twelve assists. This impressive form also resulted in James being named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year and he also helped his side Monaco get back into the Champions League. The French media have hyped up James as the most exciting prospect in Ligue 1 but still no one expected him to make the impact he has made in 2014 World Cup hosted in Brazil.
International Career
During his stint at Porto FC, Rodriguez was called up to represent Colombia U-20s. It was not long until he was made captain of the side for the U-20 World Cup where he scored three times and created five assists before Colombia were knocked out by Mexico in the quarter-finals. James impressed again in the Toulon Tournament where the Colombian U-20s went on to triumph after defeating France on penalties and he was named MVP after the competition. This impressive form for the Colombian youth sides led to a call up to the senior side and he made his debut for Colombia’s senior side on the 29th of December 2011 vs. Bolivia where he was named man of the match as he set up Falcao to score the winner in a 2-1 win. James Rodriguez continued his fine form for his country and played a huge role in helping Colombia qualify for this year’s World Cup. He scored his first goal in a 3-1 win in a qualifying game against Peru and then played a huge role in Uruguay’s 4-0 demolition of Uruguay.
James scored a beautiful 30 yard free kick in a 3-1 win against Chile which put Colombia second in the World Cup qualification standings and struck again by scoring a winning goal against Ecuador at the final stages of qualification games. Colombia then drew 3-3 with Chile and beat Paraguay 2-1 which meant that they had returned to the World Cup for the first time in sixteen years. James’ role in Colombia’s qualification for the World Cup resulted in him being earmarked as a pivotal member of the country’s World Cup squad and new coach Jose Pekerman gave him the iconic number 10 shirt, which was once worn by Colombian star Carlos Valderrama.
Pekerman’s belief in the youngster for this summer’s competition has paid dividends as he has been key for a Colombian side that are missing star player Radamel Falcao. In their opening game, James set up two goals and scored in the last minute to help Colombia beat Greece 3-0 while in their second group game he scored again and set up Quintero’s goal to help Colombia to a 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast. James Rodriguez was a second half substitute in their final group game but still made an impact by assisting two goals and scoring once in their 4-1 destruction of Japan. It was last weekend where James Rodriguez made himself a hero as he scored twice to put Colombia into the quarter finals and end Uruguay’s World Cup dream. James’ first goal was an outstanding effort which showed his unbelievable control and accuracy with the ball as he scored a Rivaldo-like volley to put his team ahead. His second was a great team goal and showed Colombia are a strong force in the competition. James Rodriguez was named man of the match and even his opposition had praise for him after the game as Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez said.
This time four years ago James Rodriguez had just scored a brace in the World Cup Round of 16 against Uruguay to set up a quarter-final clash with South American rivals Brazil. Rodriguez scored six in total throughout the tournament, earning him the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals, as well as a place in the World Cup Dream Team. One of those goals, a volley from outside of the box, earned Rodriguez the Goal of the Tournament award too.It was an incredible display from the 22-year-old, who was still relatively unknown on the world stage.
However, it didn’t take long for the world’s biggest clubs to take notice. Weeks after the tournament reached its conclusion, Rodriguez was heading to Real Madrid for a £70m transfer fee, becoming the fourth most expensive player in history at the time. It was almost double what Monaco had paid for the talented attacking midfielder just 12 months earlier. On top of that, Rodriguez was reportedly handed a contract worth €8.2m annually at Real Madrid. Despite Real Madrid spending approximately €115m on the emerging Rodriguez over a three year period, he was unable to make the impact that the club expected.
Rodriguez made just 29 league appearances throughout his first season, as injury saw him miss a number of weeks. However, he ended the season with a decent return of 13 goals and 13 assists. Yet, despite showing promise, the Colombian has seen his role reduced each year since and his performances have suffered as a result. He made 26 league appearances in the 2015/16 season, scoring seven and assisting eight, while fell to 22 appearances the following season, producing eight goals and six assists. He spent nine of the 16 games that he missed sitting on the bench, while he failed to make the squad on one occasion. Likewise, he managed to last the entire 90 minutes in just five games.
Rodriguez has since joined Bayern Munich on a two year loan. However, his first season in the Bundesliga failed to produce the turn of form that the German champions would have hoped for. And yet, despite his noticeable decline, Rodriguez’s continues to be one of football’s highest-earning professionals. Ahead of Colombia’s World Cup clash with England, Verdict looks back at Rodriguez’s career earnings and the deals that helped him to make his fortune.
James Rodriguez sponsorship deals
Unsurprisingly, Rodriguez’s showing at the 2014 World Cup has attracted a fair few sponsors. Since 2014, Rodriguez has agreed nine deals with six different companies according to sports market intelligence company Sportcal. These include deals sportwear giants Adidas, sports drink Gatorade and financial services provider Libertex. Sportcal has little information on the amount that Rodriguez earns through these deals. However, we can assume that the Adidas deal, which sees him wear Adidas boots on the field and promote the Adidas X range, is his most lucrative sponsorship deal to date. The most unusual is his partnership with blockchain-powered fintech platform SelfSell. The two parties recently collaborated to release the JR10 token, Rodriguez’s very own cryptocurrency.
James Rodriguez’s 9 sponsorship deals
What do Rodriguez’s sponsors get in return?
In return, brands gain access to a vast army of social media followers. Since the 2014 World Cup, Rodriguez has amassed a social media following of close to 87m fans. He is the third most followed player competing at this summer’s World Cup, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi. Likewise, despite his decline, he continues to gather an additional 11m followers each year. Rodriguez’s audience engage with his posts too. Since January, he has amassed 67m social media interactions, including likes, comments, shares and video views, according to sports social media sponsorship data tool Hookit. This proves valuable for brands that are looking to target large volumes of football fans. For example, in a 12 month period between June 2017 and June 2018, Rodriguez made 114 social media posts on behalf of his biggest sponsor, Adidas. According to Hookit, those posts drove $48m of value for the sportswear brand.
Sponsorship vs sport: How does Rodriguez earn most of his money?
After joining Real Madrid in 2014, Rodriguez instantly became the eighth highest-earning football player in the world, only trailing the biggest names in the game at the time. His bumper new deal put him ahead of the likes of Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez and Eden Hazard. However, it took some time for sponsors to catch up. Just 16% of his earnings that year came from endorsements. In that year, Rodriguez took home $25.4m, $21.4m of which came from his Real Madrid wages and bonuses. Salary remains Rodriguez’s biggest revenue stream and has been throughout his career. However, the gap between the two has closed somewhat over the years. Rodriguez’s endorsement earnings peaked at $7m in 2016, which was approximately a third of his total earnings of $21.9m. Over the past four years, Rodriguez has made approximately 75% of his earnings from his salary and 25% of his earnings from sponsorship deals.
James Rodriguez net worth: How much has he made so far?
Rodriguez has been earning $22m on average each year since emerging as a star of the game at the 2014 World Cup. Despite falling down the pecking order in Madrid, Rodriguez has continued to take home an astronomical amount of money.
Rodriguez has taken home $89m in the last four years. Having signed a $9m deal with Bayern, he will continue to add millions to his net worth. According to wealth management publication Spear’s, Rodriguez is currently worth approximately $26m. Celebrity Net Worth estimates his wealth in a similar region, at around $30m.