• Zidane. "The village team? Here we also get up early"

The last soccer summer has left stories with surprising closures once the season has begun. Discarded players who are headlines today, promising signings bordered on the bench and Neymar in trial against the club that a month ago made accounts to recover him. In the first two cases James Rodríguez and Marcos Llorente fit perfectly, both in a very different situation than they imagined in June, when they still shared a shield, that of Real Madrid, although they never played together. Close, yes, they were doing it in Atlético. Simeone wanted them to reinforce their creation zoan, but their club only put money for the white canterano.

The offer for James never reached, beyond the media noise and the interest of Jorge Mendes , agent of the Colombian, in moving his pieces. For about 50 million euros I would be in Wanda ... if they had been paid before the friendly New Jersey. That thrasher completely derailed the operation. In Madrid they understood that their fans would hardly accept another sale, after Llorente's , to the rival who had just scored seven goals.

"James stays" was the order that Zidane accepted, quick to detect the change in attitude of the player who two years before had left the team and sometimes even the bench. His sad farewell in 2017 was signed in the Cardiff final, with no bib or even substitute. In San Siro's , a year earlier, he didn't play either.

But if something has been demonstrated by the French technician in recent times it is pragmatism. He would have liked James and Bale to abandon their squad, but once market circumstances have made both continue, he has chosen to take full advantage of them. The couple has gone from having the suitcase ready for ownership. In the case of the coffee maker, his acceleration in the preseason put him fully in the team.

"Or Athletic or tier"

Thinner, fiercer in Valdebebas and leaving the guts later in the first official commitments. "He has ended up dead," Zidane said after the victory against Levante. Today he appears in the derby with options to play at home, unless his coach prefers a more conservative core, with the Uruguayan Valverde in the drawing. James is eager to take advantage of this second opportunity that destiny has given him at Real Madrid.

In front you will see Llorente, but probably on the bench. If James three months ago did not know very well where he was going to play, discarded by Bayern and fearful of Zidane, the Madrid pivot allowed himself the luxury of rejecting proposals such as Inter's, the exit that Madrid liked most, reluctant to close his transfer with the capital rival. "Either Athletic or I risk being in the stands," he told the superiors of the white club, then forced to accept the good red and white offer. "40 million for a substitute is not bad", they point now from Santiago Bernabéu, looking sideways at the difficult landing of the player in the framework of Simeone.

He has only been a starter in a match, against Eibar , and his coach withdrew him at the break, with the Basque team ahead on the scoreboard (1-2). The applied and defensive Thomas has won the position. It is hard for him to find his space, like many of the signings requested by the Argentine in recent years. Today he would pay to play the derby against Zidane.

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  • Real Madrid
  • Neymar
  • Marcos Llorente
  • James Rodriguez
  • Gareth Bale
  • sports
  • Champions League
  • football
  • Atlético de Madrid

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