The only thing keeping James Rodriguez at Real Madrid is Florentino Perez’s ego. Because having spent €80 million (Dh311m) on the Colombian in 2014, he’s clearly not prepared to take a financial hit on selling him and therefore accept it was an ill-advised purchase.
The idea of keeping James is a very appealing one for coach Zinedine Zidane and he would add value to pretty much every team on the planet. But the concept of having the dynamic No. 10 operating in pockets of space, controlling play and threading passes through the most robust of defences, simply isn’t the reality.
James is exactly the sort of mercurial and erratic talent who needs sustained game-time to iron out the creases in his play. Zidane’s policy of parachuting him into the first XI now and again – understandable given the performances of others – simply isn’t bearing fruit.
No matter the apparent benefits of clogging a squad with quality, some individuals just don’t work as supplementary players. Against Sporting Gijon on Saturday, and granted he wasn’t the only one, he was a total irrelevance. Marco Asensio or Isco, who both started on the bench, would likely have made far greater impacts had they started instead.
But this is the problem with James. So much of his presence is political and Zidane selected him at the Bernabeu to placate the 25-year-old and make him still feel a part of his project moving forward. While Perez wants to see one of greatest white elephants strutting his stuff from time to time. It was nothing more than an act of charity.
Asensio, given his age, and Isco, to a lesser extent, are more comfortable as squad players. James would still command a fee somewhere in the region of €50-€60m (Dh194m-Dh233m), his performances for Monaco and Colombia are enough to see to that.
Wages may be an issue, plus James himself might have a preference of where he wants to play. But the notion of squad depth is pointless.
Madrid have plentiful players in his position capable of operating in a role he can’t. It’s time to face the truth, Florentino, cut your losses and re-invest in an area of the team that actually needs reinforcing.
If Zinedine Zidane has been asked once whether he wants to or intends to sell James Rodriguez, he must have been asked a thousand times. And on each occasion, the answer has been a resounding ‘no’.
And why would he? James, even though he may not be the first name on the teamsheet at the Bernabeu, remains a world-class talent who is capable of winning games single-handedly with a brilliant goal or a magical assist.
Assuming he is not a particularly bad influence in the dressing room, which there is no reason whatsoever to believe, he is the kind of player which any manager, at any club, would be more than happy to have in his squad. Zidane is no different.
That doesn’t mean, however, that James has to start every game. Very few players are guaranteed that kind of status at Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are the club’s only attacking ‘untouchables’.
James Rodriguez is making his first start for Real Madrid since October 18th. #HalaMadrid #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/vvA4ORe5O1
— RMadridHome (@RMadridHome_) November 26, 2016
James, Isco, Lucas Vazquez, Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio will all get plenty of playing time, but they also know that when everyone is fit and firing, they will not start because the ‘BBC’ are ahead of them in the pecking order. That’s just the way it is. The fact that those players are not starting every week doesn’t mean, however, that any of them should be sold.
Any successful team needs a deep squad, and Barcelona are prime examples of a side which struggles when their best players are absent because the back-ups are nowhere near good enough – three of the four league games in which they have dropped points this season came when Lionel Messi didn’t start.
Real Madrid don’t have the same kind of extreme reliance on their superstars, because they possess a much better supporting cast – players who won’t start when everybody is fit but are still more than good enough to excel against tough opposition. Players like James Rodriguez.
Of course, eventually James may tire of his back-up role and demand to leave to guarantee starts elsewhere. But until that time comes, Madrid should definitely keep him.
