12 July,2017 08:43 AM IST | Munich (Germany) | PA Sport
Colombia's hot-shot James Rodriguez has joined Bayern Munich on a two-year loan from Real Madrid, the Bundesliga club announced yesterday
Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez. Pic/Getty Images
Colombia's hot-shot James Rodriguez has joined Bayern Munich on a two-year loan from Real Madrid, the Bundesliga club announced yesterday.
The two clubs have agreed on a two-year deal until June 30, 2019, with the option for Bayern to buy the 25-year-old midfielder who was the top scorer at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
"We're delighted we've been able to complete this transfer," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. "Signing James Rodriguez was our coach Carlo Ancelotti's biggest wish, following their successful spell working together in Madrid. James is a very versatile player. He's a goalscorer himself, he sets up a lot of goals and on top of that he's great from set-pieces.
"There's no question that this transfer further increases the quality in our team."
The attacking midfielder has been recruited by the Bavarian giants with a few of their star-studded squad threatening to leave. Brazil forward Douglas Costa is negotiating a transfer with Juventus while winger Serge Gnabry, 21, who has only just signed from Werder Bremen, wants to be loaned out to gain experience.
James joined Real in July 2014 for 75m euros from Monaco on the back of his outstanding performances at the Brazil World Cup, where he scored six goals in the finals.
His best season at Real was in 2014-15, under current Bayern boss Ancelotti, when he scored 17 goals, with 18 assists, in 46 matches. But Rodriguez struggled to break into Real's star-studded first team under Zinedine Zidane. He made just 13 starting appearances last season in La Liga with a further nine off the bench.
