Aston Villa, Brighton, Fulham and Wolves 'offered' Copa America's best player for free

Aston Villa, Wolves and two other Premier League clubs have reportedly been offered the opportunity to sign a 2014 World Cup star for free.

According to various reports, Rodriguez has ripped up his contract with Brazilian club Sao Paulo and is keen on a return to Europe, with England a possible destination.

Champions League side Villa have been offered Rodriguez, along with Midlands rivals Wolves and Nottingham Forest, Fulham, and Brighton. He is also attracting interest from Spain with Sevilla said to hold an interest.

Rodriguez is remembered for his displays at the 2014 World Cup for Colombia. The South American star scored in every game that Colombia played in, scoring six totals in total, whilst also getting two assists against Japan, as they went out in the quarter-finals to Brazil. He earned a move to Real Madrid on the back of his performances in Brazil, joining from Monaco for a reported £63m.

During his time in Spain he won two La Liga titles, lifted the Champions League Twice and was also a member of two of their Club World Cup winning teams. He was loaned out to Bayern Munich and won two Bundesliga titles during a two-year loan spell.

In 2020, he came to the Premier League to reunite with Carlo Ancelotti, and got six goals and eight assists during his time at Goodison Park. Since leaving Merseyside three years ago he has been on the move three times, signing for Al-Rayyan, Olympiacos and then Sao Paulo.

Rodriguez spent time out with injury last season, but rediscovered his touch at the recent Copa America. The Colombia captain was crowned the best player of the tournament as his six assists and one goal helped his country reach the final, where they lost to Lionel Messi's Argentina.

At 33-years-old, Villa are likely to pass up on the opportunity of signing Rodriguez having recently moved on Philippe Coutinho to Vasco da Gama with there an emphasis on signing players younger with resale value, unless there’s an opportunity that can’t pass them up. They signed Ross Barkley for a cut price fee after he excelled at Luton Town and he can play in Rodriguez’ position.