James Rodríguez hit rock bottom at Real Madrid. The Colombian midfielder, close to turning 29 years old, had no continuity with Zinedine Zidane in the past, is not having him in the present and much less will have it with him in the future.
That is why this weekend, in the preview of the key match between Real and Bilbao for the Spanish League, it was the same James who asked ‘Zizou’ not to call him, because for him it was torture to continue being in the substitute bank without being able to contribute anything.
Yesterday, Edu Aguirre, a journalist for the renowned program “El Chiringuito” in Spain, assured that Rodríguez no longer supports his situation. “He is suffering and that is why he told Zidane to let him stay at home training and thinking about the future,” said the communicator.
Against this background, what are the real options that James has at the moment and which is the most convenient for him?
He likes Atlético, but it’s difficult
If there is an option that seduces James, that is to play for Atlético de Madrid, and the reasons are obvious. If the wheel becomes ‘mattress’, he would not have to move from Madrid, a city in which he loves to live and, in addition, he would have many more opportunities to be a starter, since the ‘Cholo’ Simeone, rojiblanco coach, has it as Aim since last summer.
In an interview with Gol Caracol, James had said he almost signed with Atlético last season for around 45 million euros, but Real did not want to make the sale.
Now, with Rodríguez’s pass devalued (it would be costing about 22.5 million for his weak season), Atlético hopes to go for James again, but it is necessary to see what decision the white team takes.
Eduardo Cornago, a journalist for Diario AS de España, assured El País that the ‘Colchoneros’ will go with everything for the ’10’, but he sees it as unlikely that the business will come to fruition.
“I know an Atlético de Madrid manager who is confident that James will be signing him this summer, but it is difficult because Real does not want to arm his rival, much less repeat what happened with Marcos Llorente, who today He is one of the ‘Aleti’ figures ”, he expressed.
The Premier, a destination with edges
The price of 25 million euros that James now has, and the need of the Real to sell it yes or yes this summer (if he does not do it, since January 1, 2021 the Colombian would be a free player), has made several teams English football have been interested in him.
The top three are said to be Manchester United (who could also recruit Gareth Bale, another ‘headless’ by Zidane), Arsenal and Everton. In this last club, the scorer of the 2014 Brazil World Cup has two acquaintances: defender Yerry Mina and coach Carlo Ancelotti, with whom he had his best season at Real between 2014 and 2015.
Wolverhampton and Newcastle would be the other teams that would enter the bid for Rodríguez, who has never been to the Premier League.
In this sense, Carl Worswick, an English journalist who writes for media such as The Guardian and The Blizzard, said that United does not seem to him the ideal team for James to go to at the moment, but perhaps Everton does.
“It would be a mistake if he goes to United. It would not be a starter because at the moment the Portuguese Bruno Fernández is at a great level. At Everton perhaps because he would meet Ancelotti, “he said.
For Worswick, James does have all the conditions to play in the Premier. “Today the English League is the most globalized in the world and there are teams with different styles. He has all the talent, but the issue is whether he really wants to play in this tournament, because the mental is decisive, “he concluded.
Italy is the other destination where he asks about James (Juventus is said to be), but for Hárold Lozano, a former Colombian team player, the most important thing James should look for is a place where he has continuity.
“What happened to him at Real, I experienced as a player and that’s why I know what it feels like. James is a player with extraordinary conditions, and he has to go to a place where they give him that confidence, because he can shine in any league, ”he analyzed.
In detail
In the summer of 2019, James returned to Madrid after two seasons on loan at Bayern Munich.
However, upon arrival, the ’10’ met Zidane again, who between 2016 and 2017 had not given it continuity.
James seemed doomed from the start, because he was not even considered for the tactical work of that preseason. But he stayed at the club because Real did not want to sell him to Atlético.
With a series of injuries to the squad, James had his chance to start several games in 2019, but physical discomfort kept him off the court.
This caused Zidane to delete it and ignore it even now, after soccer resumed after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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