da esport bet： According to reports from Sky Sports, Manchester United have been offered Real Madrid attacker James Rodriguez in a cut-price transfer deal.
What’s the word?
da bet vitoria： Having struggled to replicate his 2014 World Cup form during three years at Real Madrid, it appears Rodriguez’s Bernabeu tenure will come to an end this summer. Indeed, although he’s weighed in with 28 league goals goals over the last three campaigns, his relationship with the La Liga giants has been an uncomfortable one, failing to truly establish himself in the starting XI despite the flurry of form in Brazil that took his Colombia to the quarter-finals of the last World Cup.
Sky Sports claim the South American has now been offered to United, whose manager Jose Mourinho shares an agent with Rodriguez in Jorge Mendes, and Real Madrid would be prepared to offload him for £50million, rather than the £71million paid to Monaco three years ago.
Who you know rather than how much you can pay?
Mourinho’s relationship with Mendes seems to be paying off here, with the duo having worked together since the Portuguese first turned up in the Premier League at Chelsea in 2004. Mendes brokered the deal that brought him to Stamford Bridge and instantly benefited, the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Tiago and Maniche all following Mourinho to Chelsea via the Portuguese ‘super-agent’. He also negotiated Mourinho’s United contract last summer and will undoubtedly be in line for yet another healthy agent fee should Rodriguez complete a move to Old Trafford.
Should United fans be concerned?
Of course, every major club has relationships with certain agents, but Manchester United’s appear to be dictating their transfer policy somewhat. Mino Raiola oversaw the deals that brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba to Old Trafford last summer, and FIFA are now investigating how he managed to pocket £41million from the latter’s world-record transfer deal. Although Rodriguez is a talented player, you have to wonder whether he’s actually high on Mourinho’s agenda this summer, why he’s been offered to United for less and how much Mendes stands to earn from any potential deal. The fact United are becoming increasingly connected with two of the richest agents in world football is beginning to leave a sour taste.