James Rodriguez’s future at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu is on a knife-edge, with coach Zinedine Zidane and other members of the Real Madrid hierarchy telling the player to try his luck elsewhere, as the current situation is unsustainable.
Though the Colombian playmaker wants to remain at the club, few have confidence that the 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner can turn things around, an unconvincing pre-season not improving his case for more playing time.
It may be a bitter end to his Madridista spell for Rodriguez who arrived amidst so much promise, leaving Monaco and enjoying a first season in which flashes of brilliance seemed to leave encouraging signs of what was to come.
Instead, a second season saw him fall out of favour with Rafa Benitez and then Zinedine Zidane, unable to build on the glimpses he had shown initially.
Competition for playing time will only increase if Rodriguez does decide to stay, with a budding Marco Asensio seriously contending for the few minutes the Colombian would be given.
It is more and more clear Zidane trusts Lucas Vazquez, Asensio, and even Isco far more, leaving Rodriguez far lower in the pecking order than a player of his talent and creativity deserves.
Los Blancos are looking to recover the 75 million euros paid for the attacking midfielder in July of 2014, and have already told the player’s agent Jorge Mendes to start considering other options for the player.
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