The 2026 World Cup came to an end last night with Spain winning and Rodri being crowned the Golden Ball winner, which comes about eight years after Everton might have signed the midfielder.
Spain have won their second World Cup, after beating Argentina 1-0 at MetLife Stadium.
Ferran Torres scored the only goal of the game, striking in extra-time after coming off the bench.
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It was a very one-sided affair, with Spain dominating possession throughout and Argentina being defensive and looking for moments.
Those moments never came, and it was a fully deserved victory for the Spanish.
Rodri put in another great performance and earned himself the Golden Ball, furthering his claim as one of the all-time great holding midfielders.
But some Everton fans may not know that he actually might have signed for the club in 2018.
When Everton could have signed Rodri
There are always tales at every club of players who never signed and then went on to become superstars and for Everton, Rodri is that individual.
Dave Worthington, a former scout at Everton, was said to have recommended Rodri to Everton in the 2017/18 season.
But the Toffees did not act upon Worthington’s advice and instead spent quite a lot of their budget on defender Yerry Mina.
Interestingly, Worthington had apparently advised Everton against signing Mina, who eventually transferred to Goodison Park for a fee of about £27 million.
Rodri had been playing at Villarreal at the time.
The Liverpool Echo have previously reported passages from Worthington’s autobiography, which reveal his thoughts about Rodri.
“He stood out so much,” Worthington said. “He could do everything and play anywhere – not just midfield but at the back, across any of the defensive positions. I’m pretty sure I saw him play up front in one game. Had the lot as far as I was concerned. A clever, clever footballer.”
A report from The Athletic covered the autobiography, writing: “Rodri gets the highlighter treatment again and again. A typical example is Worthington’s assessment of the midfielder, then 21, in a La Liga match against Deportivo La Coruna in January 2018: ‘Easily won headers, always makes himself available, won tackles, good positioning + awareness, strong, keeps ball well, does not make a pass if tackled, wants to help everybody, rarely wastes a pass, brilliant changes (of) play etc, movement superb’.
“The letters ‘AP’ in the right-hand margin signal an unequivocal recommendation for Everton to try to sign Rodri, who has gone on to become one of the pre-eminent players in world football with Atletico Madrid, City and Spain, and the winner of the 2024 Ballon d’Or.”
Rodri transferred to Atleti for about €25 million in total in the summer of 2018, and went on to make 47 appearances before joining City in a deal worth £63 million in 2019.
He has gone on to win all there is to win in football, and the maestro may well be one of the biggest ‘What ifs?’ in Everton history.
The player Everton ended up committing a lot of their budget to, Mina, did end up becoming a bit of a cult hero at Goodison Park.
But not listening to Worthington and moving for Rodri was clearly a major oversight by Everton officials, with the player now set to go down as one of the greatest defensive midfielders ever.
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