Two things:
1. I was expressing my view on what's best for all parties in that post, not the chronology of what's happened. Objectively, Rafael and James do not get along. James' staying will likely result in fewer minutes, which hurts any sell on value for Everton (if you believe there is any to be had) and further risks James' ability to further his career (he always prefaces statements in the fact he still believes he has gas in the tank).
At the height of his powers and as the reigning 'best midfielder in la liga' - Benitez limited James' minutes and started the narrative (warranted or not) of James' not taking care of himself with his comments in the press (which started their awkward press feud) in 2015.
If you are James, and you've just been told you need to be playing consistent minutes to get back on your NT, Rafael is probably the last guy you would have wanted your club to hire.
If you are Rafael, you've already lived a nasty press feud with James and don't want to deal with it becoming a distraction again and you probably want to field a worker bee because that's why you limited James' minutes back in 2015 anyway. You would want Everton to recoup a little money now and clear wage space for one of your guys. I think that's fair to both of them.
2. I'm not sure if you actually watched and understood James' comments or read the translations posted online - or if you know the rest of the story on that live. I did watch it and he seemed sincere that he was intending to return to Everton and it was a good move for him. What didn't get coverage in the UK, was everything else he said that day. James gave no Fs that day. It was complete foolishness and he should never have posted it. For example, at the same time all the want away stories in the UK were speculating he wanted to return to Madrid, James was saying very frankly that he wasn't interested in getting ghosted by Carlo again as he'd already followed him two times and been abandoned. Was he a little drunk and horsing around with friends? YES (at least it looked like it, he certainly wasn't thinking how dumb it was to be making any of the comments he was making). But he didn't pull any punches or talk politically with anything said (he literally furthered his public spat with his current NT gaffer, started a new feud with some Colombian NT stars from prior generations, and threw shade at Carlo for ghosting him in the same conversation he said playing for Everton next season was a good idea). He seemed to be broadcasting his inner monologue with no consideration for his best interest in any of it... So I tend to believe that yeah, he meant it.
