Atletico offer massive €50 M to hijack James Rodriguez from Napoli, Manchester United offered €66 M plus bonuses for Romelu Lukaku and more, 17 July 2019
Hello and welcome to the Serie A news and rumors of the day! As usual, there are many exciting stories from the rumor mill to read. So, let's take a look at the top stories of the day surrounding the Italian top flight.
Atletico offer €50 M for James Rodriguez as Napoli set to miss out on the Real Madrid star
James Rodriguez's future has been subjected to numerous speculations ever since Bayern Munich refused to buy him. Napoli seems to be very interested in the 28-year-old, but the Italian side are playing hardball over the transfer. Real Madrid have given their approval to let the player go on a permanent basis for €42 million.
On the other hand, Napoli President Aurelio de Laurentiis confirmed that his the club want to sign the player on loan. Laurentiis appeared to be angry with Real Madrid and hinted that Napoli would go for Ivorian sensation Nicolas Pepe if the Los Blancos refused to let go of the Colombian.
Pepe has gathered interest from top European clubs such as Liverpool after amassing more than 20 goals in Ligue. However, Football Italia reports that Atletico Madrid are ready to offer up to €50 million for James. Thus, Napoli will lose out on the player if they don't act fast.
“What I don’t understand is why can Bayern, who have three times the revenue of Napoli, take James Rodriguez on loan and we can’t? I would like to see how he and Ancelotti dialogue along with the rest of the team before investing €42m,” De Laurentiis said.
“If James could arrive on loan, nobody would say no to that, because we could also purchase another forward who could guarantee 30 goals per season alongside Arkadiusz Milik. Otherwise, I have to think about someone else with an eye to the future.”
“It could be Pepe or someone else. He scores more goals than Hirving Lozano. James is, without doubt, a very talented player, but if you study his career path, he has never really delivered on that potential.