Chelsea have opened talks to sign Real Madrid attacker James Rodriguez in a proposed €70 million transfer deal, according to Spanish newspaper Sport.
The Blues have already discussed the potential move with Rodriguez’s agent and are now preparing to table a formal bid to acquire the Colombian’s services before transfer window shuts down on 31 August.
According to Marca, Real Madrid are willing to sell the 25-year-old, who gradually fell down in the pecking order since the appointment of Zinedine Zidane in January.
Despite Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s reluctance to sell the attacker, Zidane has already informed Rodriguez’s agent Jorge Mendes to consider the player’s transfer this summer since he prefers Isco, Lucas Vazquez or Asensio to play alongside the Los Blancos’ deadly attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
And following the return of Spain International Alvaro Morata at Real Madrid, Rodriguez’ future appears likely to be away from the Spanish capital.
After a host of impressive performances in the 2014 World Cup, Rodriguez joined Real Madrid for a reported transfer fee of €80 million before netting 13 goals and providing another 13 assists in his debut campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, the former Porto and Monaco star has so far failed to impress the Los Blancos’ head coach Zinedine Zidane and was handed just three starts in last season’s Champions League campaign as Real Madrid clinched the elite European trophy for the second time in three years.
The 25-year-old attacker is thought to have attracted interest from a host of big European clubs including Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, but Chelsea remain the only club to have registered concrete desire to sign the 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner.
Chelsea are reportedly prepared to meet Real Madrid’s €70 million valuation for Rodriguez after Blues boss Antonio Conte reiterated the club’s desire to sign more players before 31 August.
Ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Watford, Conte said: “It’s very difficult to speak about the transfer policy before the game. It’s important to speak about the players with the club at the right moment’, he said ahead of the clash at Watford.
“I repeat, we are waiting for the right solution to improve Chelsea. We need to sign some players, we are working together.”
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