He’s found a new home.
Things have not all been plain sailing for James Rodriguez since his move to Real Madrid from Monaco in 2014.
He arrived after winning the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup, where Rodriguez lit up the tournament with a series of star performances and excellent goals.
In his first season at Madrid, he was one of the main men. Number 10, starting in the centre, he was one of the first names on the team sheet and justified his place in the side by scoring 17 goals in all competitions.
But after his successful inaugural season in white, he struggled for minutes on the pitch, with the necessity for a natural holding midfielder becoming more apparent and he lost his place in the side to Casemiro.
He was not even on the bench for the Champions League final last season. It was clear he needed a change. With Mario Götze failing to impress at Bayern for various reasons and an ageing squad needing an injection of youthful energy, Bayern Munich was the obvious place for James to resettle.
And he is loving life in Bavaria. Speaking to Sport1 in Germany, he said:
“Bayern is like Real Madrid, a club of the highest caliber.
“It’s a bit cold, but I’ve settled in well, it’s a new life for me and Munich is a fantastic city. I’m really happy here.
“I am very satisfied with my first half year.”
James is at Bayern on a two-year loan, but it sounds like he has no plans to return to Madrid any time soon. Madrid probably won’t miss him either, with the likes of Marco Asensio and Isco to call upon for creativity, not to forget Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić in central midfield.
