#1 James Rodriguez
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Real Madrid haven’t had the best of fitness records this season in midfield, with Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos all experiencing time on the sidelines. It’s telling that even when those first-teamers were injured, Isco and Mateo Kovacic have been preferred to James Rodriguez. Zinedine Zidane has made no secret of the fact that accommodating James into the first team is ‘difficult’.
It was a huge surprise then, that James Rodriguez confirmed his decision to stay in the January transfer window. There’s a school of thought that the Colombian is hoping for a better deal in the summer transfer window – he has impressed in the few minutes Zidane has afforded him, scoring 4 times and assisting 10 goals this season.
Florentino Perez will obviously wince at the thought of a €80 million transfer being an unmitigated flop, but the Real Madrid president will be able to salve his wounds with a high fee from Chelsea in the offing. James is an obviously talented player in the wrong set of circumstances, and a move to another European giant could reignite his career.
