Bundesliga: Bayern Munich sign James Rodriguez

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have reached an agreement with LaLiga champions Real Madrid for the transfer of Colombian star James Rodriguez. The initial deal is for a two-year loan, but Bayern have the option to buy the player at any time during that period. The 25-year-old forward was under contract with Real Madrid until 2020, having joined the club from AS Monaco for 71 million pounds in 2014, after his great performances at the World Cup in Brazil. He scored 8 goals in 22 league appearances for Real Madrid last season, not exactly the amount of first-team football he would have wanted. Chelsea and Manchester United have also been rumoured to be interested in signing James Rodriguez this summer but the Premier League clubs didn't make any official bids. "Signing James Rodríguez was our coach Carlo Ancelotti's biggest wish," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. "We're delighted we've been able to complete this transfer." In fact, it was Carlo Ancelotti who brought James Rodriguez at Real Madrid in 2014 and gave him 29 league appearances during his last season in charge at Santiago Bernabeu. Rodriguez had much more limited play time during the reign of Zinedine Zidane as head coach at Real Madrid after the Frenchman took over in January 2016. He scored 36 goals in 111 appearances in all competitions for Real, but he didn't even make the 18-man squad for the Champions League final in May. "James is a very versatile player. He's a goalscorer himself, he sets up a lot of goals and on top of that he's great from set-pieces," Rummenigge added. "There's no question that this transfer further increases the quality in our team." Bayern Munich are 1/7 at Bet365 to win the Bundesliga again next season.