Real Madrid preparing to sell Colombian attacker: Why Arsenal should go all out to sign him

Real Madrid are on the lookout for potential buyers for their star-studded players and are working on multiple departures this summer.

The list contains the likes of James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Lucas Vasquez and others who might be surplus for the Galacticos in the upcoming season.

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Los Blancos are looking to sell off Rodriguez for at least €40m in order to facilitate the signing of Paul Pogba to an extent who is valued at £150m by Manchester United.

The Colombian international returned to the Spanish capital after a two-year loan spell at Bayern Munich.

However, with the return of Zinedine Zidane at the end of last season, it was highly likely that the 27-year-old would be sold.

Let’s look at the Premier League club where James can sign to get his career back on track.

ARSENAL

Arsenal are the only top-six side who have shown a genuine interest in attaining the signature of the former Monaco star although there was an outside interest from Red Devils as well.

Gunners boss, Unai Emery after the departure of Aaron Ramsey to Juventus was left short of options in the final third and a misfiring Mesut Ozil hasn’t helped his case.

James, who primarily features as a number 10 and can switch to either flank, thanks to his versatile nature can inject a fresh breath of air in the Arsenal dressing room.

The 27-year-old guarantees goals and assists and is technically astute with the ball at his feet.

He also boasts an impressive range of passing skills, with his long ball and crossing prowess the finest of his abilities.

He averaged a pass success rate of 86.3% with 2.4 key passes, 2.7 long balls and 1.4 crosses per game across all competitions last term.

He also managed 7 goals and 6 assists in 28 appearances for the Bavarians in an injury-stricken season which highlights his ability to produce the goods even during tough phases.

His long-shot ability, playmaking prowess and the vision and awareness to penetrate the opposition would see an automatic rise in the north London club’s attacking creativity and effectiveness upfront.

Although he doesn’t match the defensive work-rate of the Welshman, the Colombian’s offensive prowess somewhat atones for his lack of defensive ability on the pitch.

Another big advantage of signing James would be his low price tag in this inflated market, seeing he is only 27 years of age and has a number of years left at the top level.

With the economic frailties at the Emirates and the Spanish giants’ desperation to offload the Colombian, this sounds like a good piece of business for the north London outfit.

Stat Courtesy: Transfermarkt, Whoscored