Real Madrid star snubbed Chelsea despite being offered a pay raise
James Rodriguez has snubbed Chelsea to stay at Real Madrid
No player has been linked with more high-profile January transfer rumors than Real Madrid star James Rodriguez. Fortunately for Los Blancos, their Colombian star is staying put. In fact, he’s already snubbed Chelsea despite the Blues’ offer of a significant pay raise.
Confidencial Colombia report that officials at Real Madrid actually gave James the choice of whether he’d stay or leave. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich personally offered the talented attacker a significant wage increase to bring his talents to England. Unfortunately for the Blues, James has elected to stay and fight for his place at Madrid.
In all honesty, I have to question the intelligence of this decision. James is a very talented player, but he continues to but heads with his current manager Zinedine Zidane. A new start under another excellent manager like Antonio Conte might have been just the ticket to kick-start his career.
There is something inspiring about James choosing to stay at his dream club to fight for his place though. He’s made no secret of the fact that he dreamed about playing at Real Madrid as a boy. Unfortunately, his career with the La Liga giants hasn’t exactly been the stuff of fairy tale.
Instead, it’s been more of a nightmare. James has enjoyed some good moments with the club, but there are far too seldom for a player of his ability. He’s been unable to gain Zidane’s trust. As such, he’s remained squarely behind the likes of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Isco in his manager’s pecking order.
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It’s tough to see that changing anytime soon. Sure, Ronaldo is starting to age a bit, but he’s not going to go quietly into the night. Bale is squarely in his prime and is arguably the club’s top player when he’s fit and firing. Isco has managed to stave off James for months and there’s no sign of slippage in his game either.
Even if he can manage to dislodge one of those stars, James is going to have to contend with the inevitable purchase of new attacking talent by the club. It’s not as if Real Madrid are going to rest on their laurels. They will continue to be linked with every big-name attacker that comes remotely available on the transfer market. One day soon, they’ll spend big on a shiny, new attacking midfielder.
Chelsea could certainly have offered James significantly more playing time. He may not be a perfect fit for the Blues, but he could have provided Conte with another important offensive weapon. With his arrival, the Blues could have all but sewn up the Premier League title.
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Fortunately for the rest of England, James has snubbed the Blues. He’ll continue to fight for his place at Real Madrid and Chelsea will be forced to continue to fight their rivals for a league title.