Minnesota's James deal is a low-risk marriage of convenience

The best thing that can be said about James Rodríguez signing with Minnesota United is that it’s a low-risk deal for both sides. That speaks volumes about both the positives and the negatives of what is clearly a marriage of convenience.

Rodríguez, 34, has signed a six-month contract with the Loons, with a club option to finish the 2026 season in the Twin Cities. Both sides appear to be getting what they need. Rodríguez gets a professional environment in which to play and train ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where he’s expected to maintain his lynchpin role for Colombia. Minnesota, for the first time in its history, gets a massive creative force and an iconic player on its team that is guaranteed to bring considerably more attention to the club both in the U.S. and abroad.

That reality augmented the typical optimism that pervades introductory news conferences. Rodríguez spoke of how happy he was to be there, with sporting director Khaled El-Ahmad even cracking jokes about Minnesota’s notoriously cold weather, something Rodríguez hasn’t always enjoyed in the past.

“I started telling James, ‘It’s beautiful weather, there’s beaches here … We can take nice walks in Wayzata in your shorts,'” El-Ahmad said. “No, but back again to, I keep talking about the group and football and I’m excited that a person who has this big persona was like, ‘Actually that’s what I want to be part of.'”

Yet the short-term nature of the deal is the elephant in the room. The fact that both sides are able to pull the rip cord on the deal so quickly if things don’t go well suggests that neither side wanted to stick their neck out too much.

The approach is certainly in keeping with Rodríguez’s M.O. over the past eight years. You have to go back to the 2017-19 spell with Bayern Munich to find the last time that Rodríguez spent more than 12 months in any one place. Some stops have been more fruitful than others. Rodríguez lasted a mere six months with LaLiga side Rayo Vallecano during the 2024-25 season, making just seven total appearances. In 2025, he featured more regularly at Liga MX‘s León, making 31 appearances during the 2025 Clausura and Apertura tournaments.

The reason for the short stints is clear: Rodríguez is a player of extremes.

If you have the Colombian playmaker in your side, you’re balancing his undeniable creativity and set-piece wizardry with the likelihood that your team is basically defending with 10 players. A manager, in this case Cameron Knowles, must build his team around Rodríguez — for better or worse. If history is any guide, it’s a dynamic that teams grow weary of, and ultimately decide it’s time to move on.

There are some different types of MLS history that point to why such an approach might work. In 2022, LAFC signed Gareth Bale for four months — a duration not dissimilar to the time Rodríguez is guaranteed to be in the league for — prior to the 2022 World Cup. He scored three goals in 13 appearances, although the last one was a whopper, that being his stoppage-time equalizer late in extra time of the 2022 MLS Cup final that enabled the Black and Gold to prevail on penalties. More recently, Inter Miami CF built its squad around a brilliant No. 10 whose defensive prowess is limited in Lionel Messi. That culminated in last year’s emphatic MLS Cup triumph.

But while there are similarities to both situations, there are critical differences. Bale was a complementary part in that LAFC squad, not the centerpiece that Rodríguez is expected to be. In Messi’s case, in addition to his otherworldly brilliance, Miami put a talented squad of players around him that covered for his shortcomings and allowed him to shine.

Minnesota, a gritty collection of solid pros that finished fourth in the Western Conference last year, can’t boast the same level of talent as the teams that featured Bale and Messi.

That leads to another challenge: tactical fit. Last year, Minnesota was a counterattacking team, as evidenced by its league-low 39% possession rate. The Loons’ prowess on set pieces helped compensate for the lack of time on the ball, and Rodríguez should add to that strength, but asking him to spend that much time playing defensive doesn’t at all play to his strengths.

There has been talk of Minnesota playing more expansively this year, pressing higher. That also seems to be asking a lot of a player like Rodríguez, who lasted 90 minutes in less than half of his appearances with León.

When asked about how Rodríguez would fit into Minnesota’s squad, El-Ahmad said all the right things, how he’s been seeking a No. 10 since he arrived in Minnesota a little more than two years ago. He also pointed to Colombia’s style, with Rodríguez pulling the strings.

“I’ve always said that we are a group that are flexible and adaptable and we always look for quality players and that is what we’re bringing in today,” El-Ahmad said. “I think the traits that we have will also help James. If you actually look at the Colombian national team, they’re somewhat pragmatic, they’re fast players. They do want to press and I think that addition is actually a good contribution to what we’re doing.

“So in the core principle, who we are is not to change. Will it evolve and adapt? I think it does that with every player that you would bring in and I think we’re both very excited for him to meet the team and start training and see how that kind of evolves together versus sitting here and telling you one thing. The one thing I will say is the identity of who we want to be is not to drastically change in any way.”

Rodríguez’s success with Colombia is undeniable, but recently, it hasn’t been easily replicated.

And then there’s the state of the Loons’ long-term planning. El-Ahmad hinted that the relationship could last beyond this season, but given Rodríguez’s history, that seems more like wishful thinking. Will it be worth it to build around a player like Rodríguez for one season, only to change direction a year later — if not sooner?

Rodríguez, El-Ahmad and the rest of the team are betting that it will — even if no one involved is putting many of their chips on the table.