Superagent Jorge Mendes breaks Chelsea, Manchester United hearts over James Rodriguez

If you were hoping that Chelsea would spend the Oscar millions on Real Madrid heartthrob James Rodriguez, superagent Jorge Mendes is here to bring the humbug to your Boxing Day.

“James will not be leaving Madrid in January.”

-Jorge Mendes; source: AS

Simple and straightforward enough.

Apparently, James believes he can still convince Zidane of his usefulness some such ... or he’s been told by Mendes to bide his time until the summer at which point a transfer may be a more reasonable proposition. Given that James, in his own words, was entirely unconvinced of his future in the Spanish capital, we’d guess the second scenario is much more likely. For now, the outcome is the same however: James staying put with Chelsea and Manchester United looking elsewhere for reinforcements this January.

Fortunately, this development should also put an end to ludicrous nonsense like what AS were peddling earlier, namely that Chelsea would use Courtois as leverage to negotiate a transfer for James. Of course, with James likely back in the market in the summer, we’ll be hearing plenty more silly rumors like this one.