Colombia and ex-Real Madrid star returns to La Liga on one-year deal

Rayo Vallecano have history with high-profile Colombian signings, and they do not come much bigger than Radamel Falcao. The iconic forward left Rayo this summer on a free, but international teammate James Rodriguez will replace him.

Rodriguez, 33, was released by Olympiakos in April of last year, and spent the past year at Sao Paulo in Brazil, playing 22 games, scoring twice and asssisting on four occasions, before leaving earlier this month. Rodriguez was once again in fine form for Los Cafeteros at Copa America this summer though, guiding Colombia to the final against Argentina, where they fell in extra time.

Rayo announced that he would be returning to La Liga for the first time since leaving Real Madrid in 2020 four years ago. Not since 2017 has he played meaningful minutes in La Liga though, with a two-year loan at Bayern Munich included in his spell at Los Blancos between 2017 and 2019. Back in Madrid, Vallecas will be his fourth home ground in as many years. It seems unlikely he would be back in action so swiftly, but there is a small chance that he makes his debut against Barcelona on Tuesday night.