Santiago Solari Plays Down Isco Gesture vs. CSKA Moscow Amid Exit Rumours

Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari has played down suggestions Isco insulted supporters during the game with CSKA Moscow on Wednesday as speculation continues surrounding his long-term future at the club. 

During the match at the Santiago Bernabeu, which Real Madrid lost 3-0 in embarrassing fashion, Isco was seen remonstrating with someone. According to Vamos (h/t AS), the Spain international was unhappy with supporters jeering him.

"What? What do you want?," it's alleged he said, before saying "f--king w--kers" in no clear direction.

When quizzed on the matter on Friday ahead of Saturday's match with Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu, Solari said he wasn't placing too much emphasis on the matter.

"I saw it from far away...I got the impression that he was protesting a corner, a foul, I'm not sure...I understand your [journalists] work and the focus is sometimes on creating a narrative," he said, per Sergio Santos Chozas of AS. "Ours is on other things and is now on tomorrow's game."

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Real Madrid icon and director Emilio Butragueno relayed a similar message after the exchange occurred on Wednesday:

Per the Spanish Football Podcast, on Friday the front page of AS stated Isco is looking set to leave the club in January:

So far it's been a challenging campaign for Isco, as he has failed to impress new manager Solari.

His last La Liga start for the European champions came in the 5-1 defeat to Barcelona. Wednesday's encounter with CSKA was the first game he has featured in from the start under Solari aside from two Copa del Rey fixtures with Melilla.

Whether or not there was anything serious between Isco and some fans on Wednesday, he doesn't appear to be happy with life at the club at the moment:

Isco also seemingly refused to take the captain's armband when given the chance against CSKA, but Dani Carvajal explained the reasoning behind that:

The whistles were curious for the player, as traditionally Isco has been well backed by the Santiago Bernabeu crowd. 

Under Zinedine Zidane during the previous two campaigns he excelled, operating in a number of different roles. Prior to Zidane's appointment as the manager there were concerns as to whether Isco would cut it at Real, but the Spaniard has been vital in their Champions League dominance, and in September 2017 he agreed a new long-term deal.

At the moment he seems to be a long way from the player who was such a key figure under Zidane. The only way he will recapture that form is with regular games, although the minutes he needs don't appear to be forthcoming under Solari.