Cerezo: Atletico tried to sign James Rodriguez, but the negotiations failed Atletico Madrid Explained what went wrong

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has revealed that the club failed in an attempt to sign James Rodriguez from city rivals Real Madrid this summer.

He was speaking in Cali, Colombia, for the launch of a new film which his production agency has been working on.

"We tried to sign him in the summer, at the start of the summer, but then, in the end, the negotiations failed and he stayed at Madrid," Cerezo revealed.

Atletico were reportedly willing to pay the 50 million euros that Florentino Perez wanted, but it was the player who decided to stay.

"Players play where they want to play and James, at that moment, wanted to play at Real Madrid - that's why he stayed," Cerezo added.

"Now, contracts are made when they have to be done and if they aren't it's because they don't want them."

The president also spoke about the important role of Colombians in the history of Atletico.

"Colombian players have fantastic physical attributes," Cerezo said.

"For example, I haven't seen a defender intercept the ball as quickly as [Luis] Amaranto Perea, or score as many goals as Radamel Falcao.

Atletico currently find themselves outside of the top four in LaLiga Santander, with the pressure growing on head coach Diego Simeone.