Chelsea FC are in desperate need of defenders but they also need a marquee signing like James Rodriguez
We live in a strange footballing world these days. Leicester City and Tottenham will be representing the Premier League in Europe, Jose Mourinho is the manager of Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo won an international trophy with Portugal before Messi could with Argentina, and Real Madrid are trying to sell a young Galactico.
Sure other Galacticos have come and gone from Real Madrid with mixed results, the likes of Ronaldo (the chubby one), Kaka, and David Beckham come to mind, but they were often sold after they had reached the end of their primes. James Rodriguez appears to be a special case that through a combination of injuries and poor fits with managers is on his way out arguably before even reaching his prime.
James joined Real Madrid in 2014 on the back of a masterful performance with Colombia at the 2014 World Cup but has not had the same success with Los Blancos. He shines in the yellow of Los Cafeteros but perhaps the white of Real is just not his color.
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His talent is obviously world class but he has struggled to make his place in the team ahead of other world class players like Toni Kroos and Luka Modric which is nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately for James, he also appears to be behind Isco and Marco Asensio in manager Zinedine Zidane’s pecking order.
So why should Chelsea FC go for a player that has struggled to find a home in Madrid and is behind the likes or Isco and Asensio who were bought for a fraction of the cost of James? The simple answer is that he is a world class talent that just needs a new situation for his talent to truly shine through at the club level.
Another reason is James’s age. The dynamic midfielder just turned 25 in July and could conceivably be a mainstay in Chelsea FC’s midfield for the next five to seven years. Along with some of the other young midfielders in the Chelsea squad such as N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard, the Blues could have a midfield core for the better part of the next decade.
The Blues have been searching for an attacking midfielder in the mold of Frank Lampard since Super Frank moved to MLS, someone capable of making that final pass but can also score double-digit goals if given enough chances. No disrespect to Cesc Fabregas but the Spaniard has only scored 10 or more goals in league play twice in his career. Fabregas is also 29-years-old so he will be facing the dreaded one year contract offers from Chelsea FC soon enough.
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Chelsea FC have their fair share of needs in defense and have looked leaky but with Oscar not living up to the hype and Fabregas getting older, this is a move that the Blues need to make. Moving for James will not rule the Blues out of a move for a marquee centerback but it will help set them up for success for the rest of the decade.