It’s not just James David Rodríguez who is looking for new doors and getting out of Qatar. The history of Asian football was not as the Colombian expected and in a few months of being in Al-Rayyan, the former Real Madrid began to criticize the level of football in that country, and began to be repudiated by the fans of the club.
James Rodríguez has knocked on all the doors, so much so that he has offered himself to Valencia in Spain in search of returning to a country that treated him well in his early years, fulfilling the dream of reaching Real Madrid. However, the Valencian team closed his entry at the wheel by signing Justin Kluivert shortly before the end of the transfer market in the summer. Galatasaray appeared later taking advantage of the fact that the window is still open in Turkey, but history repeated itself with Juan Mata.
Santiago Arias lives a similar scenario in this transfer market. He was not to the liking of Atlético de Madrid following returning from Granada, and Diego Pablo Simeone was emphatic in showing him the back door. Thus, the man from Antioquia terminated his contractual relationship as a mattress maker. He finished the transfer window, and despite being free, no club wanted to have the right back.
Compared to the contractual status of James Rodríguez, Santiago Arias can be linked for free to any team that wants it due to the issue of avoiding documentation, an aspect that would be more complex for James until the winter window opens. For this reason, Arias has a more feasible scenario of ending up in a league, and his ambition is to continue in Europe.
Santiago Arias will be able to count on an old acquaintance who, although he did not direct him, places him because of his great experience in the Eredivisie. While Arias was in the Netherlands with PSV, Erik ten Hag managed Utrecht and Ajax. And it turns out that Manchester United may not be satisfied with their entire squad, because on the right, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot do not seem to have the full confidence of the Dutch strategist, for which they would urgently seek more competition and Santiago seems to be the one indicated by the ease of linking it.
And it is that the Mirror Football newspaper maintains that possibility, “it seems that United are not entirely satisfied with their work during the summer, and incorporations are still being considered. Ten Hag does not want Wan-Bissaka, who has lost his place to Diogo Dalot in the early stages of the season. This position was clearly reflected on Thursday, when Dalot kept his position in a highly rotated team for the visit of Real Sociedad. Bissaka remained on the bench, even when the youngsters had minutes of play in the final phase. The DT even preferred to use Victor Lindelof as a right back following introducing Lisandro Martínez”.
They also add, “United have allowed Ethan Laird to go on loan to QPR and Brandon Williams remains at the club, but was excluded from the Europa League squad due to ongoing injury problems. That’s where Arias might come in. Provided he gets over his injury woes, which included a hamstring issue at Granada last season. He is an experienced player who might provide valuable back-up in what is perceived to be a weak position.”