Manchester United closing in on Real Madrid star

The rumours of James Rodriguez departure are close to becoming reality, and Manchester United are first in line to land the Colombia international next summer.

Through the past few months, Spanish media have been reporting that the 24-year-old is not happy at Real Madrid and might seek for a move out. The critics from the fans and the lack of trust from the coach have annoyed the playmaker.

Florentino Perez is not happy with the Colombian’s scandals outside the field either, and sources from the Santiago Bernabeu have suggested the president is only willing to keep him for the income he generates in shirt sales.

However, as the planning of the squad for next season has advanced, Real have realized that there won’t be room for James in the starting eleven. Zinedine Zidane is planning the squad for next season and one of his priorities is bringing a creative midfielder, thus making it impossible for both James and Isco to remain in the team.

With the player determined to leave, Real will be ready to accept offers. The main candidates are Manchester United and Paris Saint Germain. However, according to the latest transfer rumours, the French champions are planning a crazy bid for Paul Pogba and it seems highly unlikely that they will have anything left to offer Los Blancos without breaking the financial fair play rules.

Thus, Manchester United are in the best position to sign the Colombian. Spanish sports newspaper AS recently revealed that United were planning a 45-million-euro offer. At first, Perez was not willing to accept less than 80 million, but given this situation, he will agree to negotiate.