Ancelotti eyes James Rodríguez reunion for Everton revival
The experienced Italian manager has worked with the Colombian at both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but may struggle to prise him away.
James Rodríguez is one of the least used players under Zinedine Zidane this campaign and the Real Madrid midfielder has been linked once again with a January move away from the Santiago Bernabéu.
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Ancelotti considers James
After a summer of uncertainty, the season began with hope and postivity for James. This potential change in fortunes, however, pivoted in the game against Mallorca, with injury also playing its part in him missing out on pitchtime, coinciding with an upturn in results and performances.
The feeling in Madrid is that the Colombian has just faced a period of 'bad luck' recently and that there is still confidence that he can contribute in the second half of the season. That said, there are noises coming out of England that a long-term admirer of the midfielder may be lining up a bid to take him to the Premier League.
Carlo Ancelotti has recently taken over the reins at Everton and is looking to reinforce his squad to return the Merseysiders to a position of challenging the traditional Top 6 - although that group in itself is being thrown open due to the impressive developments taking place at the likes of Leicester City and Wolves. The Italian manager was 'crazy' interested in James during his time at Napoli after working with him directly at both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and is likely to be backed financially by the board in the winter transfer window.
Madrid have made it clear that their intention is to keep the creative midfielder on their books as they look to reclaim a domestic title while also fighting for more European glory. But their longer-term strategy of bringing through the next generation of talent, along with the likelihood of James not making the first XI, could see the club tempted into letting him test himself against the best in the English top flight.