Is Ronaldo blocking Chelsea’s move for James Rodriguez?
Published:
Chelsea’s hopes of signing Real Madrid ace James Rodriguez this summer may have taken a setback – and it’s all down to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Blues boss Antonio Conte is reportedly keen on landing a number of top-line players this summer, ahead of Chelsea’s all but inevitable return to Champions League football next season.
A deal for Rodriguez was on the table last month, but Los Blancos were reluctant to sell due to their transfer embargo.
But with that lifted from this summer, Real boss Zinedine Zidane is keen to make a few changes, and is happy to let Rodriguez leave.
Ronaldo, however, is not.
The Portuguese superstar counts Rodriguez among his closest friends at the Bernabeu, and is said to be unhappy at the prospect that the 25-year-old may leave.
Handed just nine appearances in La Liga this term, head coach Zidane clearly doesn’t think of Rodriguez as integral to his plans.
But, the forward is valued at £42.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, andl has another three-and-a-half years to run on his Madrid deal, so Chelsea will have to go big if they want to make the move stick.
It’s likely that the Stamford Bridge outfit will need to smash their record transfer, currently standing at £50m for Fernando Torres from Liverpool in that famous January move back in 2011.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
