According to the latest reports, Premier League outfit Arsenal has been handed a big blow by German champions Bayern Munich as the Bavarian’s club manager has insisted that Jame Rodriguez will not leave the club in January. Arsenal was heavily linked to signing the Colombian playmaker on a loan deal that is at Bayern Munich on loan from La Liga side Real Madrid since August 2017.

Ever since taking over at Arsenal football club in the summer of 2018, Unai Emery has done quite an admirable job so far. Emery was the successor to legendary French manager Arsene Wenger who was the manager at Arsenal for 22 long years winning three Premier League trophies and seven FA Cups at the North London club in a career spanning from 1996 till 2018.

However, towards the back end of his prestigious career, most of the Arsenal faithful were quite sick and tired of Wenger’s outdated tactics and staleness at the club. With Emery, there seems to be new fresh air at the club as the Spaniard took Arsenal on a 22 game unbeaten streak across all competitions. Arsenal currently sits in fifth place on the Premier League table and is just six points behind local London rivals Chelsea in the fourth spot. The Gunners will fight until the end of the season to secure a top 4 berth in order to play Champions League football next season.

However, in order to do so, Arsenal needs to buck up as recent results have not been convincing enough to show a desire to finish in the top 4. Last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham United highlighted the importance of signing a new midfielder who can unlock tight defenses as Arsenal lacked creativity in the attacking third of the pitch.

With Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey set to leave the club in the January window, Emery is also not a big fan of World Cup winning German midfielder Mesut Ozil and has completely excluded him out of the squad over the last few weeks. Emery has identified Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez as a potential candidate for Arsenal’s midfield and the English side was keen on his signature after being linked with the 27-year-old this month.

Rodriguez is also having a difficult time at the Allianz Arena as he looks to find regular football but Niko Kovac is not one to play the attacking midfielder on a consistent basis. Making just eight appearances so far in the Bundesliga, Rodriguez has not been able to replicate last season’s heroics which helped Bayern Munich to the German title. But Kovac has insisted that Rodriguez is willing to fight for his place in the starting line up giving Arsenal a major setback in terms of signing the Real Madrid on loan star.

Kovac, who’s Bayern are in 2nd place on the Bundesliga table spoke to journalists regarding Rodriguez and stated, “He wants to stay with FC Bayern, as he once said during a fan club visit, he is highly motivated and focused.  He can always help us with his quality”