Zinedine Zidane insists James Rodriguez will be part of Real Madrid’s plans but suggests it would be in Jese’s best interests to leave.
Zidane was speaking from Montreal as Madrid begin their pre-season and was asked at a Press conference if he had been in contact with James, and what the coming campaign held for the Colombia international.
“The idea with James is the same. He’s a Madrid player. He’ll be back on July 26, with Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric and I’ll speak to him as I will with everyone. I won’t say that he’ll be a starter, just that he’s important,” AS quotes Zizou as saying.
“Certainly he played less last season but I don’t see him as a starter or not. I put him in when I could, and the same will happen this year. It’s a big squad and it’s hard to choose. But I always want the most competitive team.”
Jese, meanwhile, looks like being squeezed out of Santiago Bernabeu and Zidane pointed to the likes of Alvaro Morata, Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal as examples the forward could follow of players who left Madrid, only to return a few years later.
“It’s a difficult situation. Having a big squad causes problems, but it’s what you get as Coach of Madrid. I’m not against the idea of the kids leaving. A lot of them leave and return, like Morata, Lucas and Carvajal. Why couldn’t others go?” Zidane asked.
“In any case the squad has depth and I’m happy, because they’ll all be needed with a lot of games to come. Jese is in the squad and it’s true that last year he didn’t play a lot. I’m the Madrid Coach and I want him, because I really like him, but if I was his family I’d tell him to look for more minutes. But I’m the Coach, and maybe he can get them here. We’ll see. But I’m happy with him because I know his quality.”
