Real Madrid: James Rodriguez joins Bayern Munich on loan

Rodriguez was the top scorer at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with six goals

Bayern Munich have signed Real Madrid forward James Rodriguez on a two-year loan deal with the option to buy.

The 25-year-old, who signed a six-year contract at Real when he joined from Monaco for £71m in July 2014, made just 22 appearances in La Liga last season.

He had been linked with a summer move to Premier League champions Chelsea as well as Manchester United.

"Signing James Rodríguez was our coach Carlo Ancelotti's biggest wish," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.

"We're delighted we've been able to complete this transfer."

Colombia captain Rodriguez, the top scorer at the 2014 World Cup, was signed by Ancelotti during the Italian's two-year spell as Real manager.

But the playmaker found his playing time limited under Zinedine Zidane, who succeeded Rafa Benitez as boss of the Spanish giants in January 2016.

He made 111 competitive appearances for Real, scoring 36 goals and providing 41 assists, but was left out of the 18-man squad that beat Juventus in the Champions League final last season.

"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," continued Rummenigge.

"There's no question that this transfer further increases the quality in our team."

Rodriguez has been included in the squad that will travel to China and Singapore on Sunday for a 12-day tour by Bayern, who have won the last five Bundesliga titles.

Analysis

German football journalist Raphael Honigstein speaking to BBC Radio 5 live:

The reality is that Alexis Sanchez was their number one target, and they couldn't quite make it work. James Rodriguez is a player with similar talents but doesn't really do as much as far as Bayern's needs are concerned. It's not a bad move for Bayern but it's not really the one they wanted.

Having said that, he's still a big name and some people feel he has a lot of talent that can be brought to bear with the right management. Being a loan deal there's not a lot of risk for Bayern but it's not the big marquee signing everybody was craving.

We have a pretty good idea of how much he's costing. There's a loan fee of 5m euros (£4.46m) per year and then his wages will be around 10m euros so effectively Bayern pay up to 30m euros if he stays for those two years and have an option to buy him for another 35m euros.

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