Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez has agreed to lower his wages to secure a move to Everton this summer.
That’s according to Colombia’s edition of Marca, who say the Colombia star ‘facilitates’ his move to Goodison Park by lowering his demands.
The Madrid man has emerged as a target for Everton over the last week, with reports in England claiming they were close to finalising a surprise deal.
That has been backed up by reports in Spain, which have made it clear Madrid are keen to sell, so they get Rodriguez’s huge wage packet off of their accounts.
Indeed, his salary is believed to have been a significant obstacle Everton would have to overcome if they wanted to reunite the player with Carlo Ancelotti.
They knew that offers for the player would be reduced in the current market so have made him available for a lower price, around €25m.
That has made Everton bite and a move is now ‘closer than ever’.
The player himself has proven ‘key’, though, by agreeing to lower his salary, which currently stands at around €8m after Ancelotti requested he do so.
Marca do not state what he has offered to lower his wages to, just that he has done so to help get a deal over the line.
They state he now ‘begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel’ and his ‘nightmare’ in Madrid is close to an end, with Everton seemingly now closing in on his signature.