Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists “I want Isco to renew his contract” and that the midfielder “wants to be here”.
Isco contributed to his seventh goal in six La Liga starts on Sunday as he scored in Madrid’s 3-0 win against Alaves, and Zidane dropped his biggest hint yet that the former Malaga ace would remain a Blanco next season.
“Isco? There will be a big game every three days,” the Coach said after the game.
“But to win a League, a Champions League, all the players are important. After that, when Isco plays, like the good lad that he is, he does well.
“There’s 24 of us and all of them are important. I want him to renew his contract, he’s an important player.
“He wants to be here, to play here. I’m happy for his performance, not only for his goal but also for his performance between the lines so the others could play.
“Tribute to Juanito? He was very important, for the player and person he was. He shared the values of this club, never dropping his arms, always fighting.
“I didn’t see him play live, but I’ve seen photos. He did great things for this club and we share this tribute, like the fans, who will always remember him.
“We played against a team that are very good and have lost only a few games. In the first half, we were much higher up, we started the game well. The second half wasn’t as good, especially regarding our possession of the ball.
“We lost many balls, which is not often the case. We scored three goals, maybe it’s a bit hard on them, but we kept our goal to zero and that’s important.
“April? We know that we must always improve, but playing every three days, you can’t always have a perfect 90 minutes.
“What we have to think is that it’s consistency that will lead us to do good things. The first half was spectacular, but in the second we lost the ball very easily.
“What defines my Madrid? For example, in our second goal, we were under difficult and not in a good spell.
“Suddenly the ball got to Cristiano, he passed to Isco and we scored. We know that we can hurt our opponents at any moment. We have this.
“Varane? Rafa has hurt himself in the same place as before. It doesn’t seem as bad as the other time, hopefully it’s minor but we’ll see the scans tomorrow.
“Coentrao’s words? I can say that he’s a Real Madrid player and I’m going to count on him.
“He’s been suffering from some discomfort lately, but he’s played a lot of games for the club and won a Champions League.
“You have to bear that in mind. He’s had a very long spell out and it’s complicated because he’s picked up other knocks.
“They aren’t big things, but they’ve stopped him from being at the level we need. He’s been honest. I hope that he can be with us before the end of the season.
“Switch to a 4-4-2? I was looking for more balance.”
