"?Real Madrid could use midfielder James Rodriguez as a makeweight in their pursuit of Bayern Munich star David Alaba.
Despite having interest in stars like Marco Verratti, Paul Pogba and Andre Gomes, David Alaba has remained the club's number one transfer target throughout the transfer window. Real reportedly offered Bayern €65m earlier in the window for the versatile Austrian defender, "?according to AS, but saw the bid rejected.
Madrid appear unlikely to give up in their pursuit of Alaba anytime soon, and now look set to offer up Colombian star James Rodriguez in order to get their man this window.
Rodriguez, 25, became a household name after his exceptional showings at the World Cup two years ago and earned himself an €80m move to Real Madrid. The former Porto and Monaco midfielder has had trouble replicating that World Cup form for Madrid, however, and has been overshadowed by the likes of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema during his time in Spain.
He did perform impressively during his first La Liga campaign, scoring 13 goals in 29 appearances, but faltered during his second year, scoring just seven La Liga goals in 26 appearances.
"?TZ report that Rodriguez could move to Bayern as a sweetener in the deal to bring Alaba to the Bernabeu this summer. Real have been attempting to negotiate with their German counterparts to reduce the €80m asking price, but so far have been unsuccessful. Alaba has been deployed in a variety of positions during his time at Bayern, and could be used in central midfield at Madrid should the transfer eventually come to fruition.