Report links Liverpool or Tottenham with unlikely move for James Rodriguez

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According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are both in the mix for Real Madrid playmaker James Rodriguez.

They name a slew of Premier League clubs who want to sign Rodriguez this summer, with a Real exit likely after six years at the club.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers are also named, and it’s hard to imagine so many clubs being in the race.

Yes, Rodriguez is a talent. Many will remember his staggering exploits at the 2014 World Cup, in which he stole the show for Colombia and earned his £71million move from Monaco to Real.

However, Rodriguez is now 29. He has struggled to nail down a starting role at Real, and didn’t really show his best in a loan spell at Bayern Munich.

Liverpool certainly don’t make sense for him. The Reds play with a 4-3-3 system, meaning Rodriguez’s best role – as a number 10 – doesn’t really exist in Jurgen Klopp’s setup.

Bringing him in and expecting him to play in a deeper role may be a gamble, especially as he doesn’t seem like an ideal fit in the high-pressing Liverpool style either.

Tottenham will already be trying to find a way to start both Dele Alli and Giovani Lo Celso next season, so adding Rodriguez into the mix doesn’t seem wise.

Spurs aren’t in a position to be forking out big wages either, which Rodriguez would command, whilst spending big on 29-year-olds doesn’t really fit their current plan.

This seems like two big clubs thrown into the mix to drum up interest in Rodriguez, whose stock has fallen massively over the last six years, failing to ever really recapture that World Cup form – and don’t expect to see Liverpool or Spurs given him a chance to find it.