Gossip: Real Madrid asked to 'lower Rodriguez price' for Man Utd, Ospina 'wants Arsenal exit', Bilic 'fighting for his job'

In the past year, James Rodriguez has been linked with a £50m move to Arsenal, a £55m move to Manchester United, a £51m move to Liverpool and a £60m move to Chelsea. But he hasn’t moved anywhere, except between the substitutes’ bench and the pitch at Real Madrid.

Now, finally, his agent has figured out what’s going on: James Rodriguez is too expensive.

Jorge Mendes – they don’t call him a Super Agent for nothing – has used his super powers to deduce that Premier League clubs, as stupid and decadent as they are, are not willing to spend either £50m, £51m, £55m or £60m on his Colombian client.

So, according to the Mirror, he has asked the Spanish giants to “lower their price” for the playmaker who has made just seven La Liga starts this season. Then Jose Mourinho (Mendes’ other client) will apparently be more interested in buying the 25-year-old for Man Utd.

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Another Colombian, the Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina, could also be on the move. The Sun reports that Ospina wants to quit the Emirates and has said that a £6m move to Turkish club Fenerbahce is “okay” by him. He sounds really excited, eh.

And if you were wondering whether the Sun went with the headline “Turkish delight” for this story, Hot Football Transfer Gossip can confirm that yes, they did.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic is “fighting to save his job” after five straight defeats landed the Hammers in a relegation battle (Mirror). The fight will principally take place on the London Stadium pitch in this afternoon’s six-pointer against Swansea (and, as it’s the London Stadium, off the pitch after the game too).

Even if Bilic sees off the Swans, there is a “growing belief” he will not survive beyond the summer (in his job that is, he’s not ill). The tabloid adds that West Ham “look broken and a club in crisis, a team on their knees”. Just one of those descriptions would probably have sufficed, to be fair.

Leicester City hope to have unearthed the “new Jamie Vardy” by signing 22-year-old “non-league hotshot” striker Josh Gordon from Stafford Rangers (Sun), who play in the seventh tier of English football (aka the Evo-Stik League Premier Division). By the law of averages, though, it is more likely the Foxes have just signed the new Paul McCallum (don’t worry if you haven’t heard of him – that’s kind of the point).

Elsewhere, Arsenal players will miss out on £5m in bonuses (between them) if they fail to qualify for the Champions League (Times), Watford’s owners have “no interest” in removing manager Walter Mazzarri in the summer (Watford Observer) and David Moyes will ask for the chance to “rebuild” Sunderland if they get relegated (Telegraph). For starters, he’ll be wanting to give all those underperforming Black Cats stars a good slap.

@darlingkevin