Could James Rodriguez reunite with Carlo Ancelotti at Napoli?
James Rodriguez’s days at Bayern Munich are numbered. Could Napoli and a reunion with manager Carlo Ancelotti be in the cards for the attacking midfielder?
The 2018-2019 season could be James Rodriguez’s last in the Bundesliga, as Bayern Munich don’t seem to be interested in purchasing him from Real Madrid after their loan agreement ends. While James played an important role for Bayern in 2017-2018 and had moments of brilliance in 2018-2019, he wasn’t a key part of Niko Kovac’s squad and didn’t seem to fit into Bayern this season.
Beyond that, Bayern are uninterested in buying James from Real just to flip him somewhere else, and because Zinedine Zidane doesn’t seem interested in keeping him around, a transfer elsewhere is an inevitability.
AS reports that Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti is interested in reuniting with James, whom he’s coached at both Real Madrid and Bayern. James’s best season in Germany came with Ancelotti as manager, and he also enjoyed positive spells of play under Ancelotti in Spain.
Known as a player’s coach, Ancelotti has achieved Champions League success at several clubs, including Madrid, and in order to push Napoli to greater heights, he’ll need a difference-maker on the level of James.
World-class when at his best, James is capable of scoring some of the greatest goals fans will ever see. His World Cup volley and wonder-strikes at Real grabbed headlines, and he had several impressive goals from distance at Bayern. When given time and space, James is a menace to defenses, and he would fit in perfectly with the fluid, exciting brand of attacking play that Napoli have under Ancelotti.
James would come at a steep price from Real despite Zidane’s ostensible lack of interest in keeping the attacking midfielder, as Rodriguez is a rare talent who should have several clubs pining for his services. In the right situation, James can be one of the world’s most productive players as both a goal-scorer and, most importantly, goal-provider. At 27, James is still in the prime of his career and has plenty to give to a club like Napoli.
Next. The greatest teams in World Cup history. dark
This is a situation to monitor, and the smoke between Napoli and James could grow. The interest from Ancelotti seems genuine, and it would make plenty of sense for James to try out the Serie A while reuniting with a successful coach who seems to have his best interests at heart. The key here, of course, will be agreeing to a satisfactory price, and AS reports that James and everyone at Napoli are on board with the move.