Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport reports that Inter Milan had placed a mammoth bid for James Rodriguez in the previous transfer window which Real Madrid had accepted.
Real Madrid had put the midfielder on the transfer market and it was only until the dying moments of the deadline day that they received a convincing offer, however, it was bluntly rejected by the player himself. Real Madrid was poised to make a profit of €5 million after buying Rodriguez for €80 million from Monaco.
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The report by La Gazzetta Dello Sport was revealed at a meeting of Suning Holding Group, the Chinese holding company which acquired a controlling stake in the Italian football giant this year, when the Italian newspaper was invited as a guest at the Chinese investor’s headquarters in Nanjing.
Inter Milan was quite busy in the transfer activity this summer and invested heavily in bringing in Joao Mario (€40 million), Antonio Candreva (€22 million), Ever Banega and Gabriel Barbosa 'Gabigol' (€27.5 million), after which the club launched a bid for James Rodríguez.
Inter Milan is once again struggling in the Serie A, currently standing 12th in the league and have lost more games than they have won.
City rivals AC Milan seem to have got their act together and have shot up the table and lie in 3rd place, 5 points behind leaders Juventus.
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Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez must now be looking back at his decision without regret. Madrid have lost a number of key players to injuries early in the season and that has allowed the Colombian captain to fight for his place in the side.
Furthermore, manager Zinedine Zidane would love to keep hold of the Colombian with the injuries to Luka Modric and Casemiro in midfield. On asked about Rodriguez’s future, Zidane said, “He is a Real Madrid player, but we have a very large squad. We'll see what happens”.
James Rodriguez has so far made four appearances for Real Madrid in La Liga, but the Colombian faces stiff competition for a starting berth due to impressive performances from Marco Asensio and Isco.
Nonetheless, the former Monaco player has maintained that he will continue to fight for a starting role under coach Zinedine Zidane and fulfil his dream of becoming an important player for Real Madrid.
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