A Closer Look At Real Madrid's New Man James Rodríguez

Real Madrid are allegedly ready to continue their Summer spending spree as they will, according to the Spanish media, announce the signing of the Colombian wonderboy James Rodríguez first thing in the morning. Los Blancos will reportedly pay AS Monaco somewhat around £64 million in order to grant the services of the man that scored the best goal of the last World Cup tournament.

The deal between the parts involved is practically done and James himself was two days ago in Madrid with his agent Jorge Mendes to discuss his six-year contract's details. If this is to be true, the Colombian number 10 will be Real Madrid’s super signing this season after Los Merengues payed Tottenham something around £77 million for the Welsh international Gareth Bale last term.

James “El Bandido” Rodríguez arrived at the European football in 2010 being just nineteen years old to play for the Portuguese giants of FC Porto. Things were not always easy for the Colombian playmaker during his first year at the Portuguese club, although as time went by, James became more and more familiarized with the European football style of play and he claimed his place at Porto’s team. One of the things that has probably prevented him from displaying what he does best while at Porto was the team’s tactical approach, that consisted of a 4-3-3 formation with two wingers supporting the lonely centre forward up in the front. James Rodríguez is what one may call an old school number 10, a free spirit that lurks behind the forward(s), scores goals and creates plenty of chances for his teammates and, playing as a winger at Porto, he probably never achieved his full potential.

After three seasons with the Portuguese team, James Rodríguez packed his bags and, together with his teammate João Moutinho, embarked on an adventure at the French football joining the new multi-millionaires of AS Monaco for £35 million.

“El Bandido” is a classical playmaker with splendid game vision, astonishing passing skills and with a refined technique. James is one of those types of footballers that can carry a team on his back and that became blatantly obvious during the World Cup where he was the dynamo behind the Colombian team’s engine.

After taking a closer look at Real Madrid’s current team, one can easily understand that someone needs to leave in order for James to come in and the most likely player to abandon the club is the Argentinean international Angel Di Maria, who has been under PSG’s radar lately. Di Maria acted as the team’s “number 10” several times last season and although he put up some fantastic performances, he is far from being a classical playmaker such as James and for that reason he will probably be the one to be “cut” during this silent revolution Ancelotti is carrying out at Real Madrid.