Amid reports doing the rounds of an impending move to Manchester United or Chelsea, James Rodriguez has joined Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy.
The Colombian, having joined Real in 2014, has enjoyed a trophy-laden three-year spell with Los Blancos, but became increasingly desperate to leave the Madrid outfit after he fell down the pecking order in Zinedine Zidane’s plans. As a testament to the player’s quality, the 26-year old has scored 36 goals and provided 41 assists in 111 appearances in all competitions for Real. Rodriguez was deemed surplus to Zidane’s setup. Boasting the likes of Modric, Toni Kroos et al by way of attacking outlet in the midfield, Casemiro was preferred over the Colombian over the course of last season to lend more defensive cover to the side.
The 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner was left out of Real’s 18-member squad in the Champions League final against Juventus, essentially announcing in bold letters that curtains have been drawn on his career at the Bernabeu.
The Colombian’s desperate pleas to leave Madrid seems to have been answered by former boss Carlo Ancelotti who oversaw his transfer from Monaco. In a statement to the press, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated,
“We’re delighted we’ve been able to complete this transfer. Signing James Rodríguez was our coach Carlo Ancelotti’s biggest wish, following their successful spell working together in Madrid.
“James is a very versatile player. He’s a goalscorer himself, he sets up a lot of goals and on top of that, he’s great from set-pieces. There’s no question that this transfer further increases the quality in our team.”
Valued at an eye-watering £70m, the hefty transfer fee reportedly put off many clubs interested in securing the player’s services. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United were seemingly in pole position to get the player’s signature followed by the likes of Chelsea, Inter Milan et al.
The player instead chose to reunite with Ancelotti in a loan deal that would cost £8.8m over the course of two years with an option to buy him for £30.9m in 2019.
Rodriguez is set to join the Bayern squad as we speak for their preseason tour in China and Singapore. The German side on the back of winning 5 back-to-back Bundesliga titles have strengthened considerably this season, having already announced Corentin Tolisso (Lyon, £36.4m), Serge Gnabry (Werder Bremen, £7.7m), Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim, free), Niklas Süle (Hoffenheim, £19.3m) and Kingsley Coman (Juventus, £18.4m).
With Douglas Costa set to move to Juventus and Gnabry loaned out, the addition of Rodriguez to an ageing Bayern midfield flanked by Ribery and Robben, would provide considerable ballast to a side, who are expected to go all out this season to loosen Real’s stranglehold on the Champions League trophy.
The aforementioned loan deal is quite akin to Benatia’s move to Juventus or Coman’s move the other way. A great way to structure payments over the years. James, all of 26 years has looked shorn of stamina and energy off late, but that has perhaps got a lot to do with progressively decreasing playing time at Real. The move represents a considerable amount of risk which is why it probably makes sense for Bayern to not buy the player outright. It makes sense for Madrid as well as the loan deal would free up the Spanish side’s wage budget to an extent.
It remains to be seen whether Ancelotti can revive the player who lit up the football universe with his volley against Uruguay back in 2014.
