Real Madrid Transfer News: James Rodriguez Reportedly Receives 3 China Offers
Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez has reportedly been the subject of three bids from Chinese Super League clubs.
The Colombia international is said to have three offers on the table "worth a fortune" from Hebei China Fortune, Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua, per Spanish journalist Eduardo Inda on TV show El Chiringuito (h/t Alejandro Alcazar for Sport).
Rodriguez has a €500 million release clause in his contract at Real, and Chinese clubs are keen to capitalise.
Rodriguez has found his game time with the Liga giants checked since he first excelled after arriving in Spain during Carlo Ancelotti's reign in July 2014.
There is plenty of competition for attacking places at Madrid, and the 25-year-old has found it difficult to feature in a lineup containing Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, starting just four league games this season.
But Rodriguez remains a wonderfully gifted player. He has a fine ability to take up good positions and play in his team-mates with a killer ball, and he offers real invention in and around the box.
He demonstrated these qualities with two goals in the club's recent 3-0 Copa del Rey victory over Sevilla, but it still wasn't enough for manager Zinedine Zidane to include him from the start in the subsequent league encounter against Granada on Saturday.
Terry Gibson, for Sky Sports' La Liga weekly podcast, suggested the playmaker is a victim of Zidane's success. He said:
"I am a huge fan of James Rodriguez and refute the claim that he has been a failure at Real Madrid. I think he has been a victim rather than a failure.
Whenever he has played, he has contributed in terms of scoring goals, making goals and showing his all-round talents. He's been a victim of the success Zidane has had playing a particular style and particular formation, which has led to him not being selected.
"
A desire by Chinese clubs to extravagantly outspend each other recently caused the country's government to declare it intends to take action in a bid to prevent the continued burning of money on foreign players, per the Guardian.
The move followed Shanghai SIPG's £52 million signing of Chelsea midfielder Oscar and Shanghai Shenhua's capture of Carlos Tevez, with both players on huge salaries.
Indeed, it may be Madrid's preference to listen to offers from China, as they would perhaps be more likely to recoup the reported €80 million (£63 million) they spent when signing him from AS Monaco.
Despite the planned crackdown, Chinese clubs are likely to remain keen on establishing themselves as main players on the global transfer market, and were one of them to capture Rodriguez, it would arguably be the biggest name so far and a real fillip for the Super League.
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
