James Rodriguez could never quite fit in at Real Madrid as well as he hoped following his £67m move from Monaco in 2014 and was farmed out to Bayern Munich on a two-year loan last summer, but Liverpool were keeping tabs on the Colombian.
During the January transfer window after selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in a deal worth a potential £142m, the Reds were said to be considering a mega £70m swoop for Rodriguez to replace the departed Brazilian in a move which on paper at least looked ideal.
As part of the deal which saw Rodriguez join Bayern on loan, the Bundesliga leaders had an option to make the move permanent for €35.2m, approximately half what Real spent to sign the 26-year-old three-and-a-half-years ago.
German news outlet Bild, as cited by AS, claim that Bayern will exercise their option to sign Rodriguez in the summer, meaning Liverpool will have to go back to the drawing board in their search for a Coutinho replacement after deciding against making a January splash on one.
Monaco star Thomas Lemar was the hot name linked with replacing Coutinho in January but Liverpool have cooled their interest in a potential £90m deal for the Frenchman. Schalke’s Max Meyer, who is a free agent in the summer, was wanted by Liverpool and was linked with Tottenham and Arsenal but they fear he could be joining Bayern Munich along with fellow teammate and former Liverpool target Leon Goretzka.
