What's the story?
Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus has revealed that James Rodriguez has told him that Cristiano Ronaldo wants to reunite with him at Juventus.
In case you didn’t know…
Rodriguez had joined Bayern Munich in the summer of 2017 on a 2-year-loan deal from Real Madrid after he fell down the pecking order at the Spanish capital under Zinedine Zidane. He started well in Munich and shone brilliantly under Carlo Ancelotti and Jupp Heynckes.
Since Niko Kovac took over from Jupp Heynckes last summer and the Croatian could not accommodate James into his system which always created a kind of internal tension and talks about his future at the club. His injury spells in recent times did not help either parties and despite being one of the best attackers at the club over the past two seasons, Bayern did not activate the clause which made his stay permanent in Munich beyond June 2019.
The heart of the matter
Lothar Matthaus revealed that the Colombian had spoken about where his future might lie.
"I see him at Juventus," Matthaus told Spanish news outlet AS.
"We had a conversation two weeks ago, during the celebration of Bayern's Bundesliga win.
"He is very close to Ronaldo and told me that he was in contact with him and that he has told him that he wants to have him at Juventus.
"I understand why as James can serve Ronaldo so that he can score and the two of them can shine."
Ronaldo moved to the Turin-based club last summer and lifted the Serie A title this season. However, his side crashed out of the UEFA Champions League after a loss to Ajax.
What’s next?
James Rodriguez is currently with the national team in Brazil for the Copa America 2019. His agent, Jorge Mendes, will be looking into the offers that clubs will be offering for the Colombian superstar next season. Carlo Ancelotti wants him at Naples and the Colombian would surely love to work with the Italian once again having already been under his tutelage in both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.