James Rodriguez Is Still a Star but Would Be a Risky Signing for PSG

It sounds like a lot, and that's because it is. 

Last week, Madrid-based AS (h/t Goal) reported that Paris Saint-Germain are considering an €80 million offer for Real Madrid's James Rodriguez, who's grown increasingly peripheral at the Santiago Bernabeu this season and looks a likely candidate to depart this summer. 

For the Parisians, such a move would be the marquee sort many expect the club to make, in what looms as an important off-season period. Indeed, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic set to move on, PSG are approaching a summer in which regeneration looks necessary in order for the club to entrench itself as a European heavyweight.

Luring James to the Parc des Princes wouldn't be simple, however. According to ESPN FC, Manchester United is the playmaker's preferred destination if he leaves Madrid, and there'll be no shortage of other suitors if his current club makes him available. 

And yet it's not just getting the Colombian that would be difficult for PSG; fitting him in would be problematic too. 

James is still a star despite a difficult season, but a move for him wouldn't be without risk. 

Still a Star 

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In many ways, James is precisely what PSG need: an attacking weapon, a player to add incision and a major name.

And it might be that last point that's most relevant.  

Indeed, James would be more to PSG than simply an elite player; like Angel Di Maria, he'd represent a certain proof of the club's growing stature, reinforcing the sense of it being a major destination for the continent's finest—and James still belongs in that group. 

Despite enduring a tumultuous second season in the Spanish capital, the Colombian is not a spent force at all and nor is he a one-hit wonder from the World Cup.

Amid this season's difficulties, it's been too widely forgotten that James' first year at the Bernabeu was an overwhelming success, a year in which he scored 17 goals from midfield and rapidly looked like the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of being the face of the club. 

So what's happened since?

It's complex, but this hasn't simply been a case of the 24-year-old losing his way. Instead, it's been about a cocktail of factors: a late return from the Copa America, injuries, a manager in Rafa Benitez who sought to take the team away from the technical existence James' arrival had created, and a subsequent loss in form amid a system that no longer suited him. 

Of course, it's the negative headlines that have caught the attention, but the fundamental issue has been that James has become an awkward fit in what Madrid are trying to do. 

Still, though, the playmaker has managed to score eight goals in a season some would call disastrous. He's made eight assists too. He also leads Real Madrid for key passes per game, per WhoScored.com. 

There's still an abundance of star quality in James. He just needs the right circumstances again. 

Not Without Risk

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For PSG, though, the issue with signing James would be similar to the issue Madrid often create for themselves: buying attacking stars without a defined plan of how it will work. 

James, after all, is a pure No. 10. At Madrid, his specific skill set is awkward in a 4-3-3—the same sort of 4-3-3 PSG have used in 2015-16 and that has denied Javier Pastore his preferred No. 10 berth. 

It is worth noting that the Colombian can be effective in other roles, but he wouldn't be another Di Maria and fill a specific need. Instead, James would potentially compound a systematic headache (how to wedge multiple creative midfielders into the same XI) and steer PSG into risky ground. 

Indeed, for the French champions to achieve their goal and reach the top of the European game, signing stars isn't enough in itself. PSG instead need a structure and a continuous identity, one built on sound principles and coherent squad construction.

That means addressing problem areas. It means prioritising balance and functionality. It means creating a unit rather than simply assembling names.

James would tick the star-quality box for PSG, but there's no guarantee he'd tick the others.