Never mind the hype about the Premier League: James Rodriguez has agreed to join Bayern Munich, it was announced this morning.
The move is only a two-year loan but includes an option to buy the 25 year-old for £35 million at the end of it.
The 2014 World Cup golden boot Situs Qiu Qiu Online winner sorely needed a change of scenery after being exiled to the bench for most of the season at Real Madrid, but his final destination is a real shock after so much linking of him to England.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and most of all Manchester United, whose manager Jose Mourinho shares the same agent as Rodriguez, ‘super-agent’ Jorge Mendes, had been tipped to nab his signature, with Bayern, PSG and Juventus firmly thought to be in the chasing pack.
According to the endless miasma of transfer gossip, such English teams had been “in advanced talks” for weeks, which makes Bayern’s press release the snatch of the summer.
That the Colombian is headed to Germany must be down to manager Carlo Ancelotti’s personal intervention.
How short our memories are. The Italian brought him to the Bernabeu after the last World Cup, where in his first campaign he was Real’s player of the season. James was used in a variety of midfield roles by Ancelotti, who clearly valued him as a crucial and versatile support for the BBC (Bale, Benzema & Cristiano) trident ahead of him.
James might not score like a forward, but he certainly gets involved in attacks and supplies the bullets to his teammates.
However, his mentor Ancelotti did not last beyond 2015 in Madrid. Despite winning the Club World Cup, Real finished two points behind Barcelona in the league, exited the Copa del Rey in the round of 16 after losing to Atletico …