Manchester United have reportedly turned their attention towards James Rodriguez now after they finalised the signing the of Premier League talisman Romelu Lukaku from Everton a few days back. United manager Jose Mourinho is seeking for more attacking reinforcements behind the striker as Wayne Rooney makes his much-speculated way out of Old Trafford.
Chance creation was a huge problem for Mourinho’s men last season as they were hardly able to get past the adamant defence of opponents in the league, churning out a whopping 15 draws in a process. The likes of Juan Mata and Rooney being repetitively injured helped little to Mourinho’s cause and he doesn’t want to face a similar scenario this time.
While Paul Pogba remains the main source of attack from United’s deep midfield, they will have to find a world-class partner for the towering force. Ander Herrera proved to be an effective one but Mourinho wouldn’t want to solely rely on his services. United have been hot on heels of Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic, but getting the Serbian international hasn’t been an easy task even without Inter Milan’s European stature.
The Nerazzurri is adamant in holding on to him and their new owners have money enough to keep Perisic satiated for the next few seasons. United seem to have succumbed to it as they have now turned their attention to Real Madrid’s forgotten James Rodriguez.
Given how previous season actually panned out for the Colombian international, it is quite surprising that he hasn’t tried to force his way out of the side yet. Real are holding out a price tag of around £62 million, which could be one of the reasons most of his suitors have been averted, but United are financially capable of meeting that price.
Moreover, Rodriguez will bring with himself commercial benefits that could be one of the major reasons for United pursuing him, apart from that fact that he could replace Rooney at Old Trafford. Though not a like for like replacement, the playmaker possesses some brilliant skills on the ball and phenomenal long-range shots to add to it.
The attacking midfielder was dropped from Zinedine Zidane’s favoured list as he could manage just 33 appearances for Los Blancos in all competitions, and only 15 starts. While his season started with recurring injuries, the emergence of young Mateo Kovacic and Marco Asensio further pushed him down the pecking order.
However, he has still managed 11 goals and assisted 13 times, proving his quality. Since his move to Santiago Bernabeu in 2014, Rodriguez has scored 36 goals and assisted 41 times in over 100 games for Real. With United already bringing in Lindelof, apart from Lukaku, Rodriguez could be their final piece of the puzzle.
