Zinedine Zidane has admitted that James Rodriguez asked to be left out of the Real Madrid squad this weekend amid reported interest from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton and Newcastle United, in quotes reported by Goal.
It seems a long time ago now that this Colombian playmaker was the toast of the Bernabau.
James has gone from ‘Galactico’ to persona non-grata in the Spanish capital but he wasn’t even spotted among the substitutes during a 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
And while Zidane was unwilling to give much away after a result which puts Los Blancos one game closer to La Liga glory, the Frenchman’s comments will only add fuel to the growing speculation surrounding the 28-year-old’s increasingly uncertain future.
“He wanted to be left out because of his own reasons,” Zidane mused mysteriously. “The reasons are between us and I’m not going to tell you any more.”
James returned to Madrid from a rather underwhelming two-year loan spell at Bayern Munich hoping to re-establish himself as the playmaking lynchpin for the 13-time European champions.
Instead, he has spent much of the season sitting next to Gareth Bale on the sidelines, starting just a handful of league games with his most recent appearance an ineffectual display against Real Sociedad five matchdays ago.
Marca suggested in May that Everton could come to James’s rescue with the 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner having played the best football of his career under Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabau.
Arsenal were also linked, while Newcastle would welcome James with open arms at St James’ if that Saudi takeover finally gets the green light (Mundo Deportivo in May).
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