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Mendes’ role making James move to Napoli difficult

Mendes’ role making James move to Napoli difficult

Italian Serie A giants Napoli’s hopes of signing Real Madrid attacking midfielder James Rodriguez is diminishing with every passing day.

The Naples-based club have been linked with the Columbia international who is expected to leave the Spanish giants in the ongoing transfer window.

However, despite being the number one target for manager Carlo Ancelotti, Rodriguez’s move to Serie A is becoming more and more unlikely.

The primary reason is that the Azzurri are interested in bringing the former AS Monaco attacker on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy whereas Los Blancos are looking for a permanent deal for the 28-year-old.

Another aspect which is hindering Rodriguez’s move is his manager Jorge Mendes who is also pushing the Italian club for a permanent deal for his client as that will earn him €10 million, as per the Reppubblica, something which Napoli cannot afford especially considering the fact that they are looking to extend the contract of attacker Lorenzo Insigne.

Therefore, Napoli are now looking for alternatives where they are considering an approach for Lille’s Nicolas Pepé and Barcelona’s Malcom.