James Rodriguez is reportedly hell-bent on leaving the Bernabeu and has reportedly made an agreement to sign for Manchester United next season. Rodriguez has never really established himself in the Real Madrid team ever since his £57 million move from Monaco and this season has been no different. The 25-year-old has been restricted to just 28 appearances across all competitions, starting just ten in the league.
This isn’t the first time the Colombian has been linked with a move away from Madrid, previously stating he had “offers to leave the club” if he wanted to. Reports in Spain say that the attacking midfielder has made an agreement with his agent Jorge Mendes to fulfil his wish in moving to Manchester United. Given that Mendes is also an agent of Jose Mourinho, it seems very likely that the deal could go ahead.
Rodriguez has played well this season but with such a huge squad of brilliant players, the playmaker has found it hard to establish a consistent role in Zinedine Zidane’s side. Zidane has rotated his squad all season and Rodriguez has fallen down in the pecking order because of it. Los Blancos are now through to the Champions League semi-finals and will be relying on their huge number of talented players towards the business end of the season.
Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric have all started more games than him in the Champions League but in terms of attacking midfielders, Rodriguez appears to be the main man, starting more games in Europe than the likes of Isco and Marco Asensio. Real Madrid are currently 13/8 joint-favourites in the uefa competitions betting to win the tournament and will be relying on Rodriguez to help them to the final.
Zidane clearly feels Rodriguez is his best option for the big European games and will need to replace him next season. Real have always been the best at taking Europe’s biggest names for themselves and they will need to that again if they lose the Colombian skipper.
Eden Hazard is reportedly Madrid’s main target for this summer and could certainly fill the boots of Rodriguez. Hazard has been linked with a move to Spain before and the Belgian is having one of his best seasons to date in the Premier League. Reports in Belgium claim that Hazard has already agreed a deal with Los Blancos, with a number of news outlets claiming Hazard told a close friend he wants to finish this season at Chelsea and then win the Ballon d’Or with Real Madrid.
Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas stirred the pot when he said: “Hazard could reach the level of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo if he was more selfish on the ball.”
Antonio Conte rejected the comments, saying: “In my team, I don’t want selfish players. I prefer to lose a game than to have a selfish player.”
However, Hazard agreed with Fabregas and told Sky Sports he is trying to “work on his game” to become as good as Ronaldo or Messi and that it would be “good for him to score more goals”. It appears there is a lack of communication between players and manager at Stamford Bridge and if Conte is unhappy with Hazard wanting to become more selfish, it could be very likely that Hazard will make a move to Madrid.
Author: Tom Wilson
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