Football Previews
Monaco is set to demand 115 million euros from Real Madrid or Manchester United if any of the two clubs will keep on wanting to sign the French Ligue 1 side’s star James Rodrigez this summer.
According to the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, Real Madrid have opened talks with Monaco over a possible transfer move to the Bernabeu for the 23-year old Colombia star, but the two clubs do not seem to agree on the youngstar’s valuation.
The Red Devils had been mentioned as potential suitors for Rodriguez earlier in July just after Colombia were eliminated from the 2014 World Cup by hosts Brazil. The English outfit was speculated to be preparing a big-money bid for the Colombian playmaker at a time when rumors were also rife about Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria being on his way to Old Trafford.
Di Maria has since indicated that he would snub advances from new manager Louis Van Gaal’s men in favor of playing for a club that can offer him Champions League play this coming season.
But Marca reports bad news for Manchester United on two fronts: it appears that the European champions could be considering a 60-million euro sale of Di Maria to free-spending French side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and then use the proceeds to boost their financial chances of landing Rodriguez from Monaco.
Rodriguez has only stayed at Monaco for one season, having been signed from Portuguese side Porto for close to 40-million euros last summer. The club which is owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev – looks set to take advantage of an upsurge in interest for the 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner by putting his price at almost three times what they bought him for just about one year ago.
With the Spanish side only willing to part with at most 85 million euros so far for the star, a deal with Monaco looks way off as yet. But talks just started recently, so there is plenty of time to go on with negotiations and Los Blancos are known to break the bank for the services of someone they really want in the Galacticos era – especially if the purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale – is anything to go by.
So it now remains to be seen how far soccer greats Louis Van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti can push the financial muscle of their respective clubs Manchester United and Real Madrid to secure the services of the new global football sensation.
Please Gamble Responsibly