In the summer of 2019,
James Rodriguez rejected offers from the Premier League as the Colombian
playmaker had not even contemplated going to England at that time, yet
in 2020 he might have to reconsider this stance.
There were three teams in Italy and Spain which attracted James: Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Juventus.
Arsenal’s
current interest in the midfielder isn’t new – they also made an offer
for the player in 2019 – but he instructed his agent, Jorge Mendes, to
look at other options.
Juventus didn’t end up making an
offer, but Napoli and Atletico Madrid tried until the final closing
stages of the summer transfer window.
Carlo Ancelotti asked
Aurelio de Laurentiis to sign the player specifically, but he never
offered the money that Real Madrid wanted.
Napoli hoped to
secure a loan deal with an option to buy for 2020, but the two clubs
couldn’t agree on that at all, a situation not helped by negative public
statements made by the Napoli president about Florentino Perez.
Diego
Simeone wanted James and Atletico made an offer to their rivals, but
the heavy 7-3 defeat suffered by Los Blancos at the hands of their
rivals in pre-season made Florentino change his mind.
He
didn’t want to risk the ire of supporters by selling such a popular
player to their fierce rivals, however the landscape is now rather
different.
Napoli no longer have Ancelotti whilst Atletico
have other priorities, and thus the most feasible exit for James is to
the Premier League.
He’s no longer in a position to reject a
good offer and Arsenal remain significantly interested, and they have
the biggest chance to sign him.
Everton now have Ancelotti
as coach, but he hasn’t yet shown a renewed interest in the player, but
what is now clear is that the Premier League is James’ only way out.
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