Kovac To Decide James Rodriguez

By Max Wise

A decision on whether James Rodriguez’s two-year loan deal from Real Madrid will be made permanent lies squarely at the feet of Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac according to the Bavarians’ club president Uli Hoeness.

The former FC Porto and AS Monaco player is in the second part of a two-year loan deal from Real Madrid but Bayern Munich have the option to make the deal permanent for a fee of £36m at the end of the season.

"It all depends on what our coach decides," he told Sport1.

"If he [Niko Kovac] says he wants James for next season, we'll pay the €42million. It is up to us what happens.

"We have an option we can either trigger before May or not. If we decide that's what we will do, he will have to stay. But we haven't yet made any decision on the subject."

The 2014 FIFA World Cup top scorer made the switch to Bayern Munich after he found first team opportunities hard to come by at Real Madrid.

Rodriguez made 23 Bundesliga appearances and scored seven goals as Bayern Munich won the German top flight last season whiles he already has three goals from fourteen league games this campaign.

Bayern Munich have recovered from a stuttering start to the campaign to win ten of their last eleven league games, bridging the gap between them and leaders Borussia Dortmund to just three points.