TheSportsCampus

Manchester United fans are now well familiar with the name James Rodriguez. The 21-year old Colombian international has been on Sir Alex Ferguson's radar for more than a few months with stories in the press suggesting that Manchester United scouts are so in love with the youngster that they take every opportunity to go watch him play.

United see the young winger as a natural replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, who in addition to creating plenty going forward also scored his fair share of goals. Ronaldo's heir apparent in the United squad, Nani, has proven to be a major disappointment, and even when Sir Alex does use the Portuguese winger, he tends to deploy him more as a wide man in a 4-man midfield rather than in an advanced role as part of a front three as he could with Ronaldo.

The capture of James Rodriguez could give Sir Alex the flexibility he craves at the top end of the pitch, in addition to a natural dead ball specialist in the mould of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

While Rodriguez isn't likely to come cheap, Porto players never are, the fact that Sir Alex has had the player scouted so often is a sufficient indicator that a bid for the youngster is imminent.