Avellino admits it came within a hair of signing James Rodríguez before he joined Atlético Nacional

James Rodríguez came closer to wearing Avellino's jersey than most people realize. The Italian club's own sporting director, Marco Aiello, laid out the whole story in detail to the press in his country, and the tale has an ending that's already well known in Colombia: the attacking midfielder ended up signing with Atlético Nacional.

It all began after James left Minnesota United in the middle of the year. The Colombian was a free agent without a club, and that's when Avellino, which plays in Italy's Serie B, decided to make its move. According to Aiello, the pursuit wasn't thrown together at the last minute, the club had been working on it for weeks.

The deal started in mid-August. We saw the availability to get it done. The kid preferred to find a top-division league, maybe in Europe or South AmericaMarco Aiello

That detail explains a lot: James wasn't ruling anything out, but his mind was set on getting back to competing in a top division, whether that meant Europe or South America. And Avellino, persistent as it was, kept pushing the process to a point few would have expected.

Aiello said there was even a meeting in Milan with the player's agents, and that at that meeting the deal seemed to have a green light. The Italian club was ready to close the signing. But right at that moment, with everything essentially on track, Atlético Nacional entered the picture and changed the course of the story.

Afterward I met again in Milan with the Colombian's agents, who had given the green light for the transfer. The club was ready. But in the end Atlético Nacional of Medellín stepped in and he preferred to stay there in ColombiaMarco Aiello

So that's how it played out: James chose to stay in his home country, and Avellino was left wishing it could have added a player of that caliber to its roster. There was no drama or complaint from the Italian club, more a certain satisfaction at having been part of the conversation.

Avellino keeps its focus on Serie B

With that episode behind it, the Italian club's attention is now on another goal: getting back to Serie A. For now, Avellino sits seventh in the standings with seven points, six points behind the leader, Palermo.

Aiello wrapped up his comments with a message that makes clear that, even without pulling off the signing, the club takes a positive view of the whole process.

We're happy to have shown that we're on top of things for this kind of deal tooMarco Aiello

In the end, the story stands as a transfer-market footnote: a Serie B club in Italy that briefly had the chance to sign James Rodríguez on the table, and a Colombian who, weighing Europe against South America, ended up choosing to play in his own country.