Real Madrid have today announced the signing of James Rodríguez for a reported fee of €90m (£63m) from AS Monaco. After an exceptional World Cup with his national side Colombia, that saw him win the Golden Boot and FIFA Goal of the Tournament, young James has put pen to paper on a six-year deal with Los Blancos. Rodríguez landed at Barajas Airport in Madrid on Sunday evening to complete the contract signing and medical. It is understood that on-going talks with Rodríguez’s agent, himself and Real Madrid representatives took place yesterday, where he signed his contract, ahead of a medical on Tuesday morning (pictured bottom). He will be presented to the fans in their stadium at around 8pm local time.
The 23-year old is not Real’s first summer signing. Last week they captured the signing of German World Cup winner Toni Kroos for £20m from Bayern Munich. The official announcement of the signing was forecasted to be much earlier than today; however his former club, AS Monaco, whose owner Dmitriy Rybolovlev and president Vadim Vasilyev were trying to prevent the deal, as Rodríguez still had five-years remaining on his contract after signing for €40m from FC Porto last summer. But James heart was already at the Bernabeu once he had heard of their interest…
James then spoke openly to French journalists when asked about the possibility of joining Real. “I would go to Real Madrid with my eyes shut. I respect other clubs, but Madrid is Madrid.” “To play with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale would be a dream”. He continued to fuel rumours by saying later that week; “I have said in the past that it is my ambition to play in Spain one day, because it is a league that is good technically and where you get lots of touches on the ball, which is my style”.
Florentino Perez placed an offer in the region of €90m, which eventually met the demands of Rybolovlev who came to realisation that James future did no longer lie with Monaco. With the offer accepted, the deal now lied in the hands of Real Madrid at this point. Real Madrid shirts printed with James #10 went on sale on Sunday evening in the Spanish capital if that gave you any sort of indication how close the deal was.
A Real Madrid statement today read “Real Madrid have reached an agreement with AS Monaco for the transfer of James Rodriguez, who will join the club for the next six seasons. The player will be presented today, Tuesday 22, July at 20:00 (Spanish time) in the Santiago Bernabeu presidential box. Following that, James Rodriguez will take his first steps on the Santiago Bernabeu pitch wearing the Real Madrid shirt and will attend a media conference in the press room.’
AS Monaco president Vadim Vasilyev wished his former player well: “AS Monaco have helped James Rodriguez reveal his talent to the world, especially in becoming top scorer of the World Cup in Brazil. The club had no intention to sell the player. There came a time when we considered the solution of a transfer most beneficial for both parties concerned.”
