Zinedine Zidane might not be Isco’s biggest fan but there is no shortage of managers across Europe who would give their right arm for a player with his mercurial talents.
And we are not just talking about Carlo Ancelotti, the former Real Madrid boss who labelled Isco a ‘fantastic’ player when asked about a potential reunion at Everton in 2021.
Before you scoff at the idea of this Spanish star pulling on that iconic blue shirt, hands up who thought James Rodriguez would end up at Merseyside?
The Mirror reports that the bandy-legged bench-warmer would jump at the chance to link up with Ancelotti at Goodison Park, perhaps inspired by the way James has blossomed after going from Galactico to expensive sub at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Isco has barely kicked a ball in anger this season but it is only three years since the former Malaga man was the most influential attacking midfielder in Europe, inspiring Real to the 2017 La Liga title and establishing himself as a talismanic presence at the heart of the Spanish national team.
As recently as 2019, the legendary Andrea Pirlo was imploring Juventus to rescue Isco from his Los Blancos limbo.
“To win the Champions League you need a player like Isco. The midfield is the key to everything; you have Cristiano but you need to find a way to ignite him,” Pirlo said.
“I think we need an Isco.”
With Pirlo now the coach of Juventus rather than merely an interested bystander, he has the power to make his dream signing a reality in Turin.
At least Everton won’t have Mauricio Pochettino to contend with. One of Isco’s biggest fans remains without a club, 13 months since his departure from Tottenham Hotspur.
“I think that he is one of the best and he is proving it,” Marca quotes Pochettino as saying about Isco. “I have been lucky to have seen him playing for different clubs and he has always been a player with a capacity and creativity above average.
“He has reached his full potential at Real, and we will take that into account. We know all about his magic.”
James is not the first player to spread his wings, reborn after escaping the restrictive cocoon that is life as a Real Madrid afterthought. See Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart, Esteban Cambiasso and Arjen Robben.
At Everton, Isco would find a coach who is willing to indulge his faults in search of that match-winning spark.
With Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure doing the hard yards behind him, a James-esque rejuvenation feels like a distinct, and rather thrilling, possibility for one of the planet’s most gifted footballers.
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