James Rodriguez says thank you and goodbye to Bayern Munich

It’s official, Bayern Munich will not be purchasing James Rodriguez from Real Madrid as his two year loan deal is set to expire this summer. It’s unclear at this point in time where the Colombia international will wind up by the end of the summer, but SSC Napoli and Juventus are reported to be among the front-runners. Zinedine Zidane likely doesn’t have any plans for him at Real Madrid, especially after a deal has just been reached with Chelsea for Eden Hazard for a fee of around £100m, via Sky Sports.

James leaves Bayern after two seasons during which he made a total of 67 appearances, scored 15 goals, and provided 20 assists en route to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and a DFB-Pokal title this season. While he didn’t have the greatest campaign under Niko Kovac, he showed just how good of a footballer he is during his resurgence under Jupp Heynckes last season, having originally been signed by Carlo Ancelotti. There’s no doubting his ability, and with the right manager under the right system, he will certainly flourish.

He took to social media to thank Bayern Munich, the staff, his teammates, and the fans for an “unforgettable” experience during his two-year stay:

My sincerest thanks to FC Bayern, the whole management, the fans and the team. It was two unforgettable years and I really felt at home here. I will take the best memories with me. I learned and experienced a lot. Thank you for everything. I wish everyone all the best in the future.

It’s hard to believe that two years have flown by this quickly, but nonetheless, have a look at some of James’s best bits in a Bayern shirt:

All of us here at BFW wish James all of the best in his future endeavors and he will always have love and respect from the Bayern community. We hope that he finds the right club to best utilize his talents and would lastly like to say, danke fur alles und viel glück, Jimmy!

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images