Real Madrid are hoping to offload James Rodriguez to help fund their summer move for Christian Eriksen, according to reports in Spain, with Arsenal interested in the Colombian international.

Spanish outlet AS write that Madrid are hoping to use James Rodriguez to ‘cheapen the price to pay’ for Eriksen. The La Liga side are very interested in bringing the Tottenham playmaker to Spain, so they’re exploring every avenue to get a deal done.

It appears their first choice option would be to include the Colombian in a swap deal with Tottenham, but they also have the possibility to sell the 27-year-old to a number of other interested clubs, including Arsenal, Juventus and Napoli. James is out of favour at Bayern Munich, and may even cut his loan short to join a new club, if possible.

Miguel Delaney of the Independent reported on Monday that Arsenal have made contact with Real Madrid over the signing, through intermediaries.

Of course, Arsenal aren’t going to help fund Madrid transfers in the current window, as they reportedly don’t have any interest in signing players on a permanent basis. However, the Gunners could take James on loan until the end of the season, then agree on a transfer fee in the summer.

James made his return to the pitch over the weekend, after a knee injury kept him out for most of November and December. He made a very brief 12-minute cameo from the bench, creating one chance.

Over the season, the 27-year-old has three goals and two assists in 651 minutes, one goal contribution every 130 minutes. Not a bad record, but clearly not enough to earn him many starts, as he’s still only on seven in all competitions.