Isco: "If I don't get into the starting 11, I'd like to move on"
Real Madrid midfielder Isco told Spanish radio on Monday that he "wouldn't have a problem in looking for an exit" if he doesn't start getting more playing time.Copa del Rey live:Quarter Final Draw
"I wouldn’t have a problem in looking for an exit"
Out-of-favour Real Madrid midfielder Isco spoke to Spanish radio station Cope on Monday, where he addressed his current lack of playing time, his future at the club, and the whistles that he and the team received following their fourth successive draw.
With the little amount of minutes you’re getting this season, are you considering leaving Real Madrid in January?
"Leaving at Christmas is an option that I’m not contemplating. I’m not going to give up so easily, but if at the end of the season I see that I haven’t played much, I will look at my options. I’m 24 and if I don’t find a place in the starting 11, I’d like to move one. I know what I can do well and if not here, then I’d like to be able to do it elsewhere. I’m happy in Madrid, but what footballers want is to progress and if I can’t here, I wouldn’t have a problem in looking for an exit. My objective, though, is to triumph at Madrid.”
Do you think Zidane is being unfair with you?
"Zidane isn’t being unfair with me. He puts in who deserves it, whoever’s best. Ancelotti came and I didn’t get to be an undisputed starter, and neither have I with Benítez and Zidane. I understand that the one who’s responsible [for that] is me, and that motivates me more. Zidane told me that he likes me a lot, that I work hard, and that he depends on me."
"The whistles hurt"
How did it feel that they whistled you at the Bernabéu on Sunday?
"I heard the whistles and they hurt, but the Bernabeu is demanding. If they whistle at Cristiano, how are they not going to whistle at the rest of us…? I’m not going to change my style because they whistle me. I am a daring person. It’s my character and being as I am I’ve managed to get where I am today. That [kind of] football is my essence.”
Zidane says that the team is lacking intensity…
"I run as much as anybody. I pressure, I defend, I attack…."
Is the BBC nonnegotiable in your opinion?
"We have three whizzes up front and they live for the counter attack, and that’s fundamental for us. With them we’ve won the Champions League, the Copa del Rey, the World Club Cup, the Supercup…"