James Rodriguez wanted in Brazil
Undeniably, the Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez has lots of fans in Brazil, especially following his performances in the 2014 World Cup. Now, it seems that for the first time in his career the player could play in the Brazilian league and Botafogo could be his potential destination.
As reported by Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra, from Win Sports TV, the Brazilian club made their first bid to get the player from the Qatari club, Al Rayyan, where Rodriguez is currently under contract through July 2023.
According to the Brazilian media outlet UOL Esporte, this is not the first time the Qatari club and Botafogo have had discussions regarding the midfielder and it’s being reported that his current team is asking for $5 million to negotiate with Rodriguez, a value which the Brazilian club believe is within their budget.
However, rumours of Rodriguez’s desire to have one more run in the European football leagues could prove to be the largest obstacle in any potential deal between Botafogo and Al Rayyan.
“James Rodriguez wants to leave Al Rayyan in the next months,” wrote the Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano last April. “The plan is to come back to European football as soon as possible.”
Even though Rodriguez’s desire is to go back to Europe, sending an offer to buy a big player like James Rodriguez is an enormous show of faith in the reconstruction of the Brazilian team since it was bought by the American businessman, John Textor.
The American owner, who has also just acquired Olympique Lyonnais, became the owner of 90% of the club last March. Since his acquisition the club from Rio de Janeiro seem to be on the right path to return to its previous winning ways.
News of a possible deal between the club from Rio de Janeiro and Al Rayyan was well received by the Glorioso fans, who expect to see the 2014 World Cup top-goal scorer perform at the same level of football which fans saw in the past.
However, the 31-year-old player has had difficulty of late living up to the lofty standards which made the Colombian a football star, with his latest injuries sidelining him for extended periods of time. During his Everton run, Rodriguez lost 22 matches because of different ailments and was not able to give the performances Toffees’ fans expected from him.
It seems that the move to the Middle East was helpful for the player and the midfielder has had a good run honoring Al Rayyan’s colors. Since his arrival, Rodriguez has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 15 games for the Qatari side.
-Matheus Teles
Photo: jmmuguerza. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.