Real Madrid and Napoli set to complete a loan deal for James Rodríguez

Real Madrid and Napoli will complete a loan deal for Colombian midfielder James Rodríguez in the next few hours, according to a report from Sky Sports Italy. Napoli will have a clause to sign James permanently next summer, per that same report.

This is surely not the outcome Real Madrid wanted as the club would rather sell him now in order to balance their budget after the signings of Hazard, Mendy and Jovic.

A decision needed to be made, though, given that James was not in Zidane's plans. Napoli knew that they had the edge in this negotiation and that's why they pushed for a good deal for them. The potential fee they'll need to pay next summer if they want to keep James has not been revealed.

The Colombian player completed a very good debut season for Real Madrid but his following seasons have been so disappointing that Bayern Munich didn't even want to spend €40 million to sign James after his loan deal in the German club expired this summer.