Another piece of the summer transfer jigsaw puzzle has slotted into place as Bayern Munich signed Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez on a two-year loan deal.
"The 25-year-old moves to the German champions after three seasons in the Spanish capital, where he never managed to secure a guaranteed starting place," reports The Guardian. "Bayern have an option to buy the Colombian at the end of the loan deal."
It is believed the loan will cost Bayern €5m per season and they must pay €35m to make it permanent.
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Bayern have freed up space in their squad by agreeing to sell Brazilian Douglas Costa to Juventus.
Both players were rumoured to be Premier League targets and the Rodriguez deal, in particular, could have ramifications for English clubs.
"Manchester United and Chelsea had both been linked with a move for Rodriguez this summer, but a deal did not materialise for either," says the Daily Telegraph.
"Meanwhile, Arsenal may hope that the confirmation of this deal will spell the end to Bayern's pursuit of Alexis Sanchez."
Bayern said that signing Rodriguez was the "biggest wish" of their coach Carlo Ancelotti, a comment that appears to add weight to the suggestion that the German club will now drop their interest in the Gunners forward.
"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. There's no question that this transfer further increases the quality in our team," said Bayern.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who is with the Gunners squad on a pre-season tour of Australia, has been [1]adamant he will not sell Sanchez to a Premier League rival and also insisted that he expected players to honour their contracts.
The Chilean has entered the final year of his Arsenal deal and will be able to leave on a free transfer if he does not extend his contract before the end of the season.
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