Real Madrid could be set to offload one of the most expensive flops in the history of football sooner rather than later, with reports that Paris Saint-Germain will come in for €80m man James Rodriguez in January.
The Colombian star has started just four league games all season for Zinedine Zidane's men, enduring his toughest campaign yet since his big-money move from Monaco in the summer of 2014, when Real bought him following an electric World Cup campaign.
James Rodriguez's game by numbers vs. Dortmund:
91% pass accuracy
7 crosses
3 shots
3 chances created
1 take-on
1 assist
Proving a point. pic.twitter.com/Bq7V2q9c5V
Italian paperCorriere dello Sportreport that as well as a handful of Italian clubs monitoring the 25-year-old's situation, PSG ownerNasser Al-Khelaifi is considering splashing out in the transfer market next month to arrest his side's struggles.
Both Nice and a resurgent Monaco sit above the reigning champions in the Ligue 1 table, with a Radamel Falcao-ledMonaco having scored a stunning 21 goals more than the team from the French capital, in just 17 games.
Unai Emery's side also failed to top their Champions League group, finishing behind Arsenal after drawing with Ludogorets in the final round of matches last week - laying their struggles bare on the continental stage.
Edinson Cavani has scored freely for the cash-rich club, but Lucas Moura is the only other player from the Parc des Princes with more than two league goals in the season as Emery's team struggle to put together a cohesive string of attacking performances.
It's thought that Al-Khelaifi believes the addition of Rodriguez could go some way to addressing that problem, replacing the departed Zlatan Ibrahimovic with another mercurial talent.
For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at@ThatChris1209
Despite his lack of involvement, @jamesdrodriguez is @realmadriden's assist king.