Arsenal: 15 major transfer rumors rated by plausibility and need

4. James Rodriguez—Plausibility 4/10, Need 5/10

An annoying rumor, I’m sorry to say. Because on name value alone, it may seem like a dream. He is a replacement for Mesut Ozil, a high profile signing, he’s got a better work rate than Ozil so it could be construed as an upgrade.

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But in the end, the problem that we find ourselves in has a lot to do with overpaid superstars. And that’s exactly what James Rodriguez would be. We’d have to pay ridiculous wages to do a job that honestly, I’d rather trust to someone else, someone younger, someone we can grow and build on, not someone who is already the player he’s going to be.

Of course, that doesn’t take away from the fact that he plays a position that we need in a way that we need it played. Just because I’m not a fan doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make sense. However, the plausibility keeps taking hits because the money issue is a big factor. You can’t expect Arsenal to pay a big fee on top of big wages when they’re trying to free up some of the finances.

For that reason, this rumor hangs around in the mediocre range of both need and plausibility, with little likelihood of going one way or the other.