Arsenal are ready to battle Man City in the race to sign Real Madrid star James Rodriguez, according to the Spanish media.
The 24-year-old moved to the Santiago Bernabeu from Monanco in 2014 for a fee worth £60 million after an impressive outing with Colombia in the World Cup in Brazil.
However, the former Porto forward has struggled to replicate the stellar performances he showed in his debut season this term and he is rumored not to be part of the Spanish giant’s plans for the future after being overlooked by both the former boss Rafa Benitez and current coach Zinedine Zidane.
The 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner has fallen down the pecking order with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale preferred in attack ahead of him.
The forward’s agent will reportedly meet with Madrid’s president Florentino Perez to discuss regarding the future of his client, who still has four years left on his current contract with the club.
The Sun via Spanish newspaper El Confidencial reported that City and Arsenal are prepared to part with around £60 million to land the Colombian.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is looking to strengthen the squad this summer after another disappointing season and the knee injury to Danny Welbeck, which he sustained during the 2-2 draw with Man City on Sunday has somewhat complicated issues for him. The Frenchman has to
step up his pursuit of his of a marquee signing this summer.
The England international will be out of action for nine months, missing the EURO 2016 and the first half of next season, Olivier Giroud has been linked with German club Wolfsburg, leaving Arsenal with Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez to lead the attack.
It is obvious Rodriguez will only move to a club playing in the Champions League next season, giving Arsenal an edge over Premier League rival Man City.
Bleacher Reports tells that Rodriguez is reportedly house hunting in Manchester, in advance of a possible this summer to the Premier League. The Local rivals Manchester City and Manchester United are reportedly to be intense on signing the Real attacking midfielder.
News from the Spanish source OK Diario (h/t Metro’s Mark Brus) reports how the Colombian international wish to live possible should he move to England’s top flight. He reports as follows: “Rodriguez is planning to rent out his current home in the Spanish capital, and has been looking at property in Manchester.”
Beginning of this month, Guillem Balgue, La Liga expert articulate to Sky Sports (h/t Metro’s Sean Kearns) how the Los Blancos Manager could cash in on James this summer. Corriere dello Sport (h/t MailOnline’s Richard Arrowsmith) Italian news source has put both Serie A giants Juventus and Manchester United in the frame
This protracted queue bring into being for James ought to be a no surprise news for anybody. He’s a highly motivated player, has a very tremendous talent and he is currently at his best.
While this awesome development likely to place United in the frame, as noted by Brus, Jose Manuel Garcia of Spanish publication El Confidencial was also cited particularizing how the Gunners and their fellow Premier League side rival, City are interested in signing the talented player.
