Former Everton star James Rodriguez has torn into Rafa Benitez for selling him last year to bring to an end his time with the "spectacular club".
Rodriguez, 30, joined Qatari side Al-Rayyan in September for a fee in the region of £7million after it became clear he had no place in Benitez's plans.
The Colombia forward was only halfway through the two-year deal he signed when joining the Toffees on a free transfer from Real Madrid in 2020.
Rodriguez impressed during his first season at Goodison Park with six goals and nine assists in all competitions, even though he struggled with numerous calf injuries.
Despite this, Benitez had no interest in keeping Rodriguez and looked to offload him upon his ill-fated appointment as Everton manager last summer.
Did Rafael Benitez make a mistake by selling James Rodriguez? Have your say in the comments!
The pair shared a bitter history from their brief stint working together at Real Madrid, during which Benitez raised questions of the player's physical condition.
Rodriguez subsequently moved to the Middle East and he has scored three goals in nine appearances for Al-Rayyan while also chipping in with four assists.
But the former Monaco and Porto ace has lingering regrets over the way he left Merseyside and insists he had much more to give Everton.
"I would have liked to have been at Everton for much longer," Rodriguez said on streaming service Twitch, in quotes shared by Fabrizio Romano on Twitter.
"It's a spectacular club, the fans are incredible, but I ran into a coach who didn't want to count on me. I wanted to be there. Unfortunately, the coach didn't want to count on me."
Rodriguez's comments come a matter of days after Richarlison declared "nobody understood" Benitez's decision to sell his former teammate.
"When I got back from the Olympics, even I was surprised by how much he was running and how dedicated he was in training. He was training well," Richarlison told Brazilian outlet TNT Sports of Rodriguez.
"Then, out of nowhere, the coach told him that he didn't have him in his plans. Nobody understood a thing. It weighed heavily on the group because we all knew James' quality."
Benitez was sacked by Everton in mid-January and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard appointed as his successor.
Lampard won his first game in charge by defeating Brentford 4-1 in the FA Cup but results have been mixed since then, with defeats by Newcastle and Southampton in the Premier League either side of a win over Leeds.
Up next for the Toffees is a challenging test against defending champions Manchester City on Saturday evening.
