Atletico Madrid’s summer spending is not yet over as they turn their attention to James Rodriguez.
The future of James Rodriguez is still uncertain but Atletico Madrid has entered the race to acquire the Colombian. Having already splashed the cash on the likes of Joao Felix and Marcos Llorente, Diego Simeone now turns his sights to the talented midfielder.
Rodriguez is coming off a two-year loan spell at Bayern Munich where he showed flashes of his talents but not enough for the Bavarian club to make the move permanent. He returned to Real Madrid where it is evident that there is no place for him. He was used almost exclusively as a back-up during Zinedine Zidane’s first tenure as manager and things probably will not change in his second spell.
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Initially, it appeared that his future was going to take him to Italy as Napoli were the early front-runners to sign him. After all, Carlo Ancelotti knows him during his time as Real Madrid manager and he was also the manager at Bayern Munich when James was brought in. Ancelotti seems to have faith in him and a move to Napoli made sense. However, Napoli has had a tough time reaching an agreement with Real Madrid.
According to ESPN, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said, “James wants to play for Napoli, but Madrid are asking for too much money.”
Marca report that Real Madrid is asking for €42 million. The Spanish outlet also reports that Atletico Madrid hopes the player’s desire to stay in Madrid will work in their favour.
Should a move go through, it will be the second player this summer to make the move to Atletico from Real Madrid after Marcos Llorente.
Signing James Rodriguez also means a bit of a shift in Atletico’s style of play. With him, the side looks to have more talent going forward despite the loss of Antoine Griezmann. The club has been burned before when signing attacking talent and a lot of that has to do with their defensive style of play. We may see these attackers given more freedom to express themselves.
Regardless, Atletico Madrid are going to be patient in their pursuit perhaps hoping for a price decrease in the process. For his part, James Rodriguez needs a move away from Real Madrid to revitalize his career. A move to their city-rivals gives him an opportunity for that and to show Real Madrid, and Zinedine Zidane, what they gave away.