James Rodriguez Has Limited Options If He Leaves Real Madrid This Summer

Real Madrid's campaign continues to provide interest and excitement, along with clues as to the direction the club might take next season regardless of whether or not the current one ends with silverware.

With Zinedine Zidane offering little to criticise in terms of his results as head coach, he'll surely begin 2016-17 in charge—and it is becoming more apparent with every passing week which players he regards as important and which are expendable.

One of those who continues to be marginalised at Real is James Rodriguez, with the Colombian star linked with a move away after playing only 393 minutes since the end of February, from a possible 13 games—or 1,170 minutes.

The Colombian, though, has limited options to choose from, and it makes picking the next step of his career a tricky but vital task as he prepares to turn 25 in July.

Interest

The rumours have been circulating around James' future for most of the current campaign, and they haven't slowed down in the past few months as he sat on the sidelines.

In the Spanish media, AS reported (h/t the Independent's Jack de Menezes) both Isco and James had failed to impress Zidane and would be moved on in the summer, with Manchester United the big admirers of the Colombian attacking midfielder. 

Marca suggested (h/t De Menezes) Real would prefer to keep hold of James but any offers of around the same total they paid for him—an eye-watering €80 million (£62.2 million)—could change things.

Guillem Balague, meanwhile, said Real Madrid wanted to offload Cristiano Ronaldo, but being unable to do so meant they would sacrifice James in order to fund new signings, per Sky Sports (h/t Marc Williams of the Daily Star).

Alternatively, Paris Saint-Germain hold an interest in James, according to the Independent (h/t Univision Deportes, link in Spanish), who said Laurent Blanc wanted to add the player to his front line.

Elsewhere, the suggestions are largely the same: Diario Gol's Fernando Rodrigo (link in Spanish) reported back in November that agent Jorge Mendes was pressuring Florentino Perez into selling Ronaldo, or else he'd struggle to retain James, with PSG again the destination.

The clubs who can pay the going rate for James are few and far between. The teams who can accommodate him in his best role are even fewer.

Ancelotti

Last season, James shone in two different roles for Carlo Ancelotti. First and perhaps most frequent was in the 4-4-2 system, when Gareth Bale was sidelined by injury.

At that time, the Italian manager opted to use inverted wide midfielders to narrow the pitch and allow them to drift infield and operate in their preferred No. 10 zone: Isco on the left, and James on the right.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Real's balance was superb, the mix of creativity and goalscoring prowess was impressive, and James contributed to both.

Allowed to cut in and either shoot or chip a cross toward the far post, the Colombia international scored eight and assisted seven in La Liga between September and the end of January before injury robbed him of a fine run.

He didn't exclusively play from the right in that period, but it was a persistent role for him. At other times, he would be central: the key No. 10 in a 4-2-3-1, accommodating Bale along with the other main duo in attack, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

A scheming presence with skill and vision as well as a penalty-box threat with his runs from deep and well-timed arrivals at the back post, James showed why Real had spent such huge sums on his footballing ability as well as his South American marketability.

Benitez and Zidane

This year has been a complete turnaround.

James started the season in Rafa Benitez's first-team plans but was out of the team due to an injury picked up on international duty.

Lacking fitness and perceiving his absence from the teamsheet to be a slight on his game, James spiralled downward: not impacting as sub, not winning a starting spot, not getting fit and then being injured again when away with his national side.

He has totalled just seven 90-minute appearances this season in all competitions, something that saw Benitez lambasted in the Madrid media and that Zidane has escaped from entirely, despite both handing James three 90-minute games in La Liga.

Controversial and overly judgmental favouritism among the Madrid media is nothing new, but Marca has continued its pro-James rhetoric of late without citing the manager for leaving him out, in an interestingly one-eyed method of highlighting a problem but not laying blame anywhere. Zidane is, of course, currently in favour.

Earlier in the season, Marca's Fabian Torres reported (in Spanish) former Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla suggested Benitez must have something against Colombians, as he had also sidelined Camilo Zuniga and Duvan Zapata while at Napoli.

More recently, another famous ex-Colombia star, Carlos Valderrama, said he didn't understand why Zidane wouldn't play James when both Ancelotti and Benitez had the No. 10 playing well, per Marca's David G. Medina.

RAUL ARBOLEDA/Getty Images

The most damning indictment of James' inability to break into the team has been Real Madrid's surge back into the title race on the back of a nine-game winning streak, as well as to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, without James really playing a part.

The former AS Monaco attacker did not come off the bench in the comeback win over Wolfsburg in the quarter-final second leg or against Manchester City in the first leg of the semis.

He was only given 12 minutes as sub against Rayo Vallecano last time out in La Liga, despite Real trailing 2-0 from early on and needing to win, and he was an unused sub in El Clasico as Real beat Barcelona.

Flourish vs. Merely Playing?

The key now for James is to find a club where he will play, but does he wish to be the central attraction or merely an extremely good player who can contribute to the overall cause?

At Manchester United, he might find a manager who will play him right in the centre in an attacking midfield role, as both Louis van Gaal and potential incoming boss Jose Mourinho have favoured a playmaking No. 10 in their 4-2-3-1 system.

But elsewhere? Laurent Blanc at PSG has used a 4-3-3, where Zidane has not trusted James in his own variation of that system. He can naturally play the offensive-midfield role in that setup, but crucially, he has not done so as a key part of a winning team yet.

James is 24 and turns 25 over the summer, where he will likely star again for Colombia in Copa America. Should they do well, he'll head into the new season in good spirits, and some team must make use of his enormous abilities. But he has to also accept that if a move away from Real Madrid is the option, it's essentially a downward move to go anywhere.

And, with that, comes an acceptance that he may have to work harder, play slightly outside of a favoured role and still have a big impact.

This should be the prime of James' career. Instead of floundering on the bench, he should be flourishing as a major player.

It's only one bad year, and he's fully capable of recovering, but this summer could determine whether he goes on to be remembered as a South American great or merely another young player of enormous potential who never quite hit the heights he should have.

Follow @karlmatchett