Everyone’s heard of Colombia’s James Rodriguez now! He’s been the player of the World Cup so far and he’s a joy to watch. But before fans start dreaming of signing the twenty-two year old genius, they need to know it will cost a huge amount to even get close to signing him.

Most clubs missed the boat with James Rodriguez. He spent three seasons with FC Porto and always looked a talent with the Portuguese side. But as many big European teams watched the young Colombian, not one would put the money down for the creative magician.

Then last summer AS Monaco with Billionaire backer (Dmitry Rybolovlev) decided to sign the potential world superstar for a €45m fee.

Now when Monaco purchased James, most of the footballing public were discussing their other Colombian purchase ‘Radamel Falcao’. So even with a whopping fee, he wasn’t considered the star.

That might have helped the youngster settle into Ligue 1 life and get to understand his new surroundings. Early on in Monte Carlo, James was benched by Claudio Ranieri, who felt Rodriguez needed to defend more (yeah I don’t get it either).

Come winter time and James was starting to shine in the southern principality. In January, striker Falcao suffered a serious knee injury and would be ruled out for the rest of the season as well as the World Cup. People soon began to write off both Monaco and Colombia. But James had other ideas. He’d step up a gear for Monaco and help secure his side second spot in Ligue 1 and guaranteeing Champions League football next term. His record of nine goals and twelve assists in thirty starts in France was superb.

The star can play on either wing and with either foot but his favoured position has to be as a number ten. He loves to keep on moving, finding space all the time and constantly looking for the ball. His eye for a pass and his ability to make that pass can be quite extraordinary. He can also cross the ball and provide enticing set-pieces.

His positional awareness and ability to see what’s going on around him, does stand-out. Better people than me spotted his wee look over the shoulder before he controlled a high ball and smashed in a volley against Uruguay. But let me take you back to his nations opening game against Greece. His dummy in the box that allowed Pablo Armero to score was also genius.

The world has stood up and taken notice as James leads the scoring charts with his five well taken goals at the summer soccer spectacle. He’s also picked up two assists and three man of the match awards!

So usually after such an amazing World Cup, the player would be touted for a huge move. But Monaco don’t need to sell. In fact I believe they’d gladly let go of Falcao before even thinking of getting rid of Rodriguez. They don’t need the money and he still has four years to run on his contract.

To have the star player of a World Cup is illustrious for any side and that will mean that Mr Rybolovev would probably never sanction any James transfer this summer. He would mean more to his club in terms of exposure now than anyone else at Monaco or any potential buy.

Falcao might be a different matter. The striker was bought to show the French footballing authorities that Monaco meant business. It was a move that made Monaco big players in Ligue 1 as they’re the only real competitors to PSG. When the club brought in Falcao last summer they were in the middle of a fight with the FFF (FÉDÉRATION FRANÇAISE DE FOOTBALL), who wanted Monaco to pay a whopping £160m fine. That case soon quietened down once Monaco splurged so much cash last summer.

Real Madrid would have loved to have signed Falcao last summer but know that Atletico Madrid wouldn’t have sold him to their main rivals. So why not do a deal with Monaco, that they can sign him for a year and then Real will sign him from them for the same/similar fee? Its politics but it works.

Now with this outstanding World Cup and the fact Monaco are a growing/ambitious club, you’d need to start to talk about a £80m+ fee just to get ‘Les Rouges et Blancs’ around a table to discuss a transfer. Plus you’d need James to indicate that he wants to leave the Stade Louis II. I doubt he’d rock that boat after only a season. Especially when he still needs to improve there.

That kind of price tag would take Italian sides out of the equation. PSG could afford the deal but Monaco would never do business with their main rivals. The top South American players just don’t seem to fancy England ahead of Spain. In La Liga that leaves Real Madrid or Barcelona.

‘Los Cules’ already have Lionel Messi and Rodriguez mentioned after the Colombian victory over Uruguay that he’d always preferred Real over Barca.

Basically he’s positioning himself for a future move to the Bernabeu. I can see him one day ending up in a white strip in Madrid but not for another two or three seasons. Madrid would need to sell a few to accommodate him and that needs to be planned a year beforehand. Plus I think they really want a striker, preferably Falcao this summer.

Maybe after two more years in Ligue  1 and helping Monaco win a few competitions and only with their blessing ,do I believe we shall see James Rodriguez depart the French Riviera.

For English sides? Well they need to ask why their scouts can’t pick up on these talents earlier and why they didn’t get him from Porto?

Don’t worry though, if you want to keep tabs on the talented attacking maestro next term, you’ll be able to catch some Monaco games on BT Sport  and learn more about Ligue 1 by checking-out French Football Weekly. 

Posted on June 29th, 2014 by scott
Filed under: Article, World Cup