Soccer

João Moutinho and James Rodriguez sold to Monaco for €70 million

After a week of speculation and rumors, the transfer of João Moutinho and James Rodriguez from FC Porto to AS Monaco was made official today by the Portuguese club.

By Zach Woosley May 24, 2013, 11:42am EDT

FC Porto announced today that they've reached an agreement with newly promoted French side AS Monaco for the transfer of João Moutinho and James Rodriguez.

The combined fee for the two players will be €70 million, €45 million for Rodriguez and €25 for Moutinho, making it one of the biggest transfer deals in Portuguese soccer history.

This isn't the first big sell that Porto has amde in the past few seasons. In 2011 they sold Colombian striker Radamel Falcao to Atletico Madrid for €40 million (plus €10 million in potential incentives). The next year they sold Brazilian striker Hulk to Zenit St. Petersburg for €40 million as well.

Monaco are owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and he's committed to spending copious amounts of money to propel Monaco back to the top of both French and European soccer after they earned their promotion back to Ligue 1 this season.

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