James Rodriguez has urged his Colombia teammate Radamel Falcao to follow his example and make the switch from Monaco to Real Madrid.
- Falcao plays down Real Madrid move
Rodriguez and Falcao were teammates at Porto before Falcao headed to Atletico Madrid in 2011 and were then reunited last year when they both moved to the French principality.
But while Rodriguez's outstanding performances at the World Cup -- which saw him score six goals and pick up the tournament's Golden Boot -- led Real to make Monaco an offer of around 80 million euros to bring him to the Bernabeu, Falcao had to spend the summer at home as he recovered from a serious knee injury.
James on today's front page: "Hopefully Falcao will come". pic.twitter.com/xcITdf6Jcl
- AS English (@English_AS) July 31, 2014
Despite that, the former Atletico Madrid star has long been linked with Real, and Rodriguez would relish having the 28-year-old at his new club.
"He has a winning mentality and that's what Madrid want -- I really hope he goes there," Rodriguez said in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS.
"I've been playing alongside him for four years, we were only separated when he was at Atletico. I'm sure he is good enough to play for Madrid, but I'm not the one who decides whether he comes or not.
"He could play for Madrid because he's a quality player with a winning attitude."
The chances of Madrid going into the transfer market for another big name forward appear slim, however, as reports in Spain suggest Los Blancos are set to announce that France striker Karim Benzema has extended his contract with the club until 2018.