Chelsea have made a club record bid for Real Madrid forward James Rodriguez, according to The Sunday Express.
With Romelu Lukaku seemingly making it clear that he is happy to stay at Everton for another year at least, Chelsea are said to have switched their attentions to the Colombian playmaker and The Express writes:
Exclusive: Chelsea make record £60m bid for Real Madrid star after giving up on Lukaku
It’s an interesting suggestion that Chelsea are going for James as an alternative to Lukaku. Becasue, as we know, they are very different players. Lukaku is most definitely a number 9 but James is more of a playmaker who can occupy the number 10 position or play out wide.
But that’s not to say he doesn’t know where the net is – he’s hit 16 in 48 for his country and 88 in 302 at club level for Porto, Monaco and Real Madrid – and with Costa playing well for Antonio Conte we think that a creative would be a better purchase for The Blues right now.
At 25 Rodriguez has his best years ahead of him and TFF believes that he could be one of the best buys of the transfer window, should a deal come off.
The Colombian has fallen out of favour of late at Real Madrid and it could be the perfect deal for all parties. For the Spaniards it would give them some serious money to make another marquee purchase this summer. And for the player a change of scenery could be just what he needs to kick his career on again.
James certainly has the upper body strength to thrive in The Premier League, which would be richer for his presence. He is a delightful player with rare skill.
Let’s see some of his better moments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrbjjcATSSY