Manchester United, Chelsea enter the race to sign South American attacker

Manchester United and Chelsea have reportedly shown their respective interest in signing James Rodriguez from Real Madrid this summer.

The Colombian has spent the past two seasons on loan with Bayern Munich but he has not made sufficient progress to convince them into a permanent deal for his services.

As such, it appears likely that he could return to the Bernabeu during the summer, although that won't encourage his gametime with Zinedine Zidane recently returning to the helm.

According to Marca, Los Blancos are likely to consider Rodriguez's sale in such a situation, and United and Chelsea could be among the high-profile sides in the running to land him.

The 27-year-old is likely to be available on a cut-price deal of around £36m but any approach from the Blues may be dependent on whether they can get their transfer ban lifted temporarily at the least.

Rodriguez has endured a tough season in the Bundesliga this term with fitness and form concerns. He has made only 20 appearances with just three of those lasting for the entire 90 minutes.