Soccer star James RodrIguez wants to leave German record champions FC Bayern Munich and wear the jersey of Champions League winners Real Madrid again, according to Spanish media reports. "James wants to return," headlined large on page one the Madrid sports newspaper "Marca".
Decisive for the desire of the Colombian is the departure of coach Zinedine Zidane, under which James had hardly come to Madrid, writes the paper with reference to the environment of the 27-year-old offensive player. And after the transfer of world footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus Turin, the royals urgently need to strengthen the offensive department, it was said.
Zidane, who left Real after their third consecutive top-flight triumph, had rarely used the Colombian as a regular in Madrid during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons. The 66-time international (21 goals), who had been the discovery of the 2014 World Cup, therefore moved in the summer of 2017 to Munich, where he hit very well and scored seven goals in 23 competitive games.
"Marca" asserts that both Real Madrid’s club management and new coach Julen Lopetegui would welcome a return of James. However, the offensive star is still firmly tied to Bayern by a contract that runs until June 2019.
The Munich team had loaned the now 27-year-old for two years. It is considered safe that they will pull the purchase option on him. "He has developed wonderfully, especially since Jupp Heynckes has been the coach. That was a very very good transfer, I have to congratulate Carlo Ancelotti again," Munich’s CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had said in early April.
Heynckes’ predecessor, who was on leave, had advocated the signing of James last summer from Real Madrid. "We have, after all, clear conditions as far as the contract is concerned. He has a two-year loan contract, and then we have a purchase option for 42 million, which we have to pull," Rummenigge explained further. "There is no rush."For comparison: when James moved from Monaco to Real, the Spanish transferred 75 million euros to the principality.