Which Clubs Would James Rodriguez Be a Good Fit for If He Leaves in January?
James Rodriguez was part of the Real Madrid squad celebrating victory in the Club World Cup in Japan last week, but he wasn't part of the team doing so—and his post-match comments left fans in little doubt that he wasn't impressed at missing out.
J. I. Garcia-Ochoa of Marca reported James saying he "couldn't guarantee he'd stay" at the Santiago Bernabeu club beyond the January transfer window, while Real were angered by the timing of his words, per Jose Diaz of the same outlet.
The fallout has been a succession of transfer rumours and controversy, with the Spanish paper running a poll that saw 57 per cent of fans vote in favour of selling the Colombian. But the point of James wanting to leave is that he wants to play...and not every club with the money to sign him can fit him into a viable position with their current setup, so where would he fit? Who actually needs him?
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The big candidates: Chelsea
Chelsea are flying: top of the Premier League, with a world-class manager in place and plenty of money coming in due to the impending sale of Oscar to CSL side Shanghai SIPG. Liam Corless of the English outlet the Mirror reports that the Blues are one of two teams in the Premier League with an interest in James, with the cash from Oscar going straight on a new attacking midfielder.
Positionally, there's an ideal role for James: the narrow right-sided attacker, the mirror to Eden Hazard, supporting striker Diego Costa in Antonio Conte's 3-4-3. It's an ideal setup to allow James freedom to create infield and get in the box where he does most damage.
Tactically, though, James likes to roam between the lines out of possession as often as he works back to help regain possession, and that could be a sticking point considering the doubling up down the channels that the current incumbents do alongside their midfielders and wing-backs.
The other problem is that Chelsea already have two top talents, in-form and featuring regularly, occupying that position: Willian and Pedro. The Brazilian started in favour, then the Spaniard took over to great effect more recently.
Would James fit? Absolutely. Do Chelsea need to spend upward of £50 million on him? Absolutely not...but that hasn't always stopped them before.
The Mirror further link Manchester United with James, while the Manchester Evening News' Alex Porter suggests Jose Mourinho is "insistent" on his signature.
A recent improvement has coincided with the Red Devils shifting to a 4-3-3 more often, allowing Paul Pogba to drive on from midfield into the final third, and there doesn't appear an obvious role in the centre for James, unless he perhaps displaces Ander Herrera, a standout performer for United this season.
In a Mourinho team, James appears best suited to the right-sided forward role, but with Jesse Lingard impressing in flashes and Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally getting a run in the team before his recent injury, it's not as though they are short of options there either.
The finances would be no problem, but it's hard to envisage the Colombian being an immediate success in this team, in truth.
Paris Saint-Germain
James has already starred in Ligue 1 with AS Monaco, but he has long been linked with a move back to France to PSG. Le 10 Sport (h/t TalkSport) report Unai Emery's team is ready to finally land James to help close the seven-point gap at the top of the table to leaders Nice.
Emery has habitually been a 4-2-3-1 coach for most of his time in Spain, but at PSG he has altered the midfield arrangement to a 4-3-3 most often. Marco Verratti might be a class apart, but at his peak there's surely a role for James to influence the team as much or more as the likes of Angel Di Maria, Blaise Matuidi or Lucas Moura.
Finding the right balance might be tricky and one big name is going to be left out, but James can bring both creativity and goals to a team and is most certainly a better bet for both than Jese, Hatem Ben Arfa or Javier Pastore.
If the interest is genuine, James would certainly be a tremendous addition to PSG's side—though whether Emery will be in charge by January is seemingly up for debate, with the Independent among the media sources citing pressure on the Spanish boss.
Outsiders that fit: Dortmund
No links to the next three clubs, and finances could go either way, but James would fit into the lineups in each case, starting with Borussia Dortmund.
BVB have alternated between a 3-4-3 variation and a 4-1-4-1 this season, and clearly James would be a big success in a side that plays fast, offensive football with lots of movement in the final third—it's exactly what he thrives on.
Ousmane Dembele and Marco Reus tend to be the options to support Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in attack, and while James might be a starter in that line ahead of the exciting yet raw Dembele, there's also the added intrigue of Aubameyang's ongoing links to Real Madrid. A transfer ban means that deal can't happen any time soon, but Reus and Dembele have both operated as a centre-forward before.
James for Auba?
Just behind Chelsea in the Premier League table, Liverpool operate a 4-3-3 with offensive, creative central midfielders and a very narrow front three.
James doesn't have the pace of a Sadio Mane perhaps, but he's comparable stylistically to Adam Lallana—and an upgrade on him, no doubt—in the middle. Expecting the Reds to not just break their transfer record but almost double it to sign James is a huge leap, but they have money to spend after finishing with a net profit in the past couple of transfer windows.
Composure in possession, quick transitions and rotation of positions are all keys in the Reds' setup, and there's more than a case to be made that James is a fit for the tactics and the formation.
If Liverpool is a stretch, AC Milan is an even bigger one—but they are on the way back up this year, just two points off second place in Serie A at present. Juventus and their 3-5-2 is a non-starter for James, and while Inter continue to throw money around, they continue to do so haphazardly and with little success.
AC Milan play a standard 4-3-3 under Vincenzo Montella, organised and neat on the ball for the most part, though they can still lack ingenuity and goal threat in the final third.
Like with Liverpool, James is an option on the side of the attack or as one of the No. 8s in central midfield, an obvious option to dovetail with Suso and Carlos Bacca as the main offensive hub of the team. Money? They spent around £70 million in the summer of 2015 on Bacca, Alessio Romagnoli and Andrea Bertolacci, so it's there if they really want to do deals.
It's still more likely James ends up at either Chelsea or PSG, but they aren't the only teams the Colombian can finally find regular game time at and be a huge success where he can showcase his traits to the best extent possible.
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