Philippe Coutinho's agent makes surprising Liverpool return claim, Matthijs De Ligt to have Juventus medical on Tuesday and more: Transfer Roundup, 14 July 2019

James Rodriguez wants Atletico Madrid move

James Rodriguez during his early days at Real Madrid

James Rodriguez could be part of one of the most sensational stories of the summer as the Colombian international looks increasingly likely to join Real Madrid's cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid this summer.

Diego Simeone and co. are reportedly close to signing the Blancos midfielder. James Rodriguez would like to continue to live in Madrid and as such, he is keen on joining Atletico Madrid.

Rodriguez spent the last two years on loan at Bayern Munich. After impressing heavily in his debut season in the Bundesliga, he faded in the second season, causing the Bavarians to let him return to Real Madrid this summer.

Zinedine Zidane does not have room for James Rodriguez in his plans for the upcoming season and is thus willing to cash in this summer. The 28-year-old looked destined for Napoli. However, he has decided to cool his interest in such a move, favouring the prospect of joining Atletico Madrid.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram