Despite numerous transfer rumors surrounding James Rodriguez last summer, the Colombian international remained with Real Madrid. However, it appears that this was only because the La Liga giants didn’t want to let him leave for a competitor.
In a recent interview with Colombian media outlet Gol Caracol, Rodriguez admitted that he was close to leaving Santiago Bernabeu before the start of the season. The 28-year-old agreed to terms and thought the move was all set before Real stepped in.
“There was a very good proposal from a Spanish team, which Real Madrid rejected. I’d prefer not to say the name of the team,” said Rodriguez. “I thought it was a done deal, but they didn’t let me go to the club I wanted to join. They wanted me to go to another team.”
According to recent reports, the Spanish team Rodriguez is referencing could be Atletico Madrid.
Rodriguez added that there were also offers for him from Italy and China, but that he didn’t want to go there and ended up staying put. He ended up playing 14 games in all competitions in 2019/20, contributing with one goal and two assists.
James Rodriguez joined Real Madrid in 2014 after a spectacular performance in the FIFA World Cup during which he earned the Golden Boot award as the tournament’s top goalscorer. Rodriguez had a promising first season in Spain but ultimately failed to meet the big expectations laid in front of him.
After two mediocre seasons, Rodriguez was sent to Bayern Munich on a two-year-long loan. Although he hoped to resurrect his career with this move, he ended up struggling in Germany as well. Rodriguez played 67 games and scored only 15 goals over the course of his stint with Bundesliga giants.
