James Rodriguez Moving to Real Madrid For $112 Million

James Rodriguez had a breakout performance at the World Cup, scoring six goals while leading Colombia to the quarterfinals. Just about everyone appreciated the cut of his jib. Real Madrid came up with the cash to buy him, for about $112 million. Some are reporting the deal to be worth as much as $124 million. The 23-year-old’s move comes a year after AS Monaco bought him for a paltry $62 million. Not a bad bit of business for the French club.

His shirt is already for sale in the Real Madrid club shop…

James Rodriguez's no.10 Real Madrid shirt is up for sale in Madrid! pic.twitter.com/DFwN8ceWeR
— HALA MADRID (@RMadridCastilla) July 20, 2014

This was not a need buy for Real Madrid. They already have Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Angel Di Maria and Isco fighting for time at roughly the same position. It’s more of a political one. Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned by members. Club presidents have to run for reelection. After Barcelona bought Luis Suarez, Real had to retort.

Worth noting: the World Cup afterglow is perhaps the worst time to go into the transfer market. It bloats player values. Rodriguez has a promising three and a half years of club football to his credit. But he’s not an established superstar and he has never played in a top level league, much less dominated one.