Isco's reasons for leaving

Isco, along with his father and representative, have transferred him to Real Madrid that they want to leave the white club Given the limited role that the Malaga has been playing in the white team, even in January if it is possible to articulate the operation and find a team that meets the needs of all parties.

At Real Madrid they have not denied this option, partly out of gratitude for the years that Isco has served at the club, a prolific stage in which he has played a leading role, and partly because Madrid is making a hole in the squad, based on raising money in the market and cutting high salaries, for a flashy operation next summer, preferably Mbappé. Isco receives between six and seven million euros net per season and may still have enough poster to get an amount for his transfer. Those are the reasons for Madrid to open the door for him and these are the reasons for Madrid to want to cross it.

Loss of harmony with Zidane

Recently, Isco was caught on the bench during a game criticizing his teammates in a humorous tone how little Zidane has been using him: “If he puts me, he changes me in 50 'or 60'. And if he has to put me in, he puts me in 80 '…”. Zidane, faithful to his character as a calm man, took the issue away at the next press conference, when he had to assess the anecdote: “It is ambition. He wants to play, like all players, and that is positive. Players always want to play and that does not depend on them, what they have to do is work to be ready. Then I have to make the decision to get an eleven and be able to change and that will not change. “

It is no secret that the relationship between Isco and Zidane has lost tune. At the time, the Frenchman bet everything on the Malaga player, leaving James aside, a profile similar to that of Isco, which led to his transfer to Bayern. But since his return, Zizou has treated Isco with less predilection and it has relied more on more versatile profiles within the staff to accompany the Casemiro-Modric-Kroos medullary trident; Fede Valverde, whom Zidane praises whenever he can for his deployment and ability to help in attack and defense, is the best example. Isco continues to have opportunities, but without a doubt he has lost positions in Zidane's mental plan.

Less and less prominence

That loss of harmony has inevitably translated into fewer minutes for Isco. In the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, the Andalusian midfielder played 42 and 49 games, almost 2,400 and 3,000 minutes, respectively, scoring 11 and 9 goals in each of those two seasons. Isco was able to break the immovable BBC (Bale, Benzema and Cristiano), being a starter in the Champions League finals against Juventus and Liverpool in Cardiff and Kiev, respectively; In the other two finals of his stage in Madrid (against Atleti twice, Lisbon and Milan), he was a substitute, but he came out in the second parts and enjoyed quite a few minutes.

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These numbers contrast with those of recent years: in 2018-19 it was less than 1,800, although his personal confrontation with Solari hurt him, that practically took him away from the eleven; but it is that in 2019-20, already again with Zidane, his participation was even lower, 1,600 minutes and three goals. New figures have arrived in the midfield and Madrid attack (Valverde, Odegaard, Asensio, Hazard, Rodrygo, Vinicius …) and all this has resulted in Isco, this season, being the 14th in minutes played in the Real Madrid squad.

No place in the drawing

Zidane has always shown a special predilection for 4-3-3, although during one stage he opened at 4-4-2 with a diamond in the medullary, precisely to give Isco entry into the midfielder and thus take advantage of his moments of greatest inspiration. Those moments passed and Zidane hardly pulled on that formula, and when he does, it is Odegaard who is chosen to be behind the two forwards.

This is no small matter, as Isco needs to play in a centered position; on the wing, its performance drops a lot, especially over the years, when it has lost overflow and dribbling ability. And in the medullary line, Madrid suffers a lot if it acts as one of the two interiors due to its lack of physical deployment to cover positions and cover the constant gaps that the white sides generate, always in an attack attitude. The midfielder is the ideal place for Isco, but it is a position that has been clearly disused in recent years, also in Madrid.

The end of a stage

To all this is added the feeling of a finished stage. Isco signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 in exchange for 30 million, from Malaga; He had an important proposal from Pellegrini's Manchester City, but he chose to play in white and, with ups and downs, he can say that he was right. He has had Ancelotti, Benítez, Zidane, Lopetegui and Solari as coaches. Without a doubt, Zizou has been the one who bet on him most decisively and the one who got his best performance.

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So far, Isco has played 313 games for Real Madrid, scoring 51 goals and giving 54 assists. His arrival coincided with a brilliant stage for Real Madrid at the title level: in the previous seven seasons, the white team has lifted four Champions League, two Leagues, one Copa del Rey, three European Super Cups, four Club World Cups and two Super Cups of Spain. A total of 16 titles for Isco at Madrid, a record that defines a historic player. At 28, it may be time to reinvent yourself on another team.

The Eurocup, on the horizon

Obviously, this loss of prominence on the part of Isco has affected his influx to go to the Spanish National Team. The man from Malaga has played 38 games with La Roja, scoring 12 goals and being present at the 2018 World Cup in Russia (Del Bosque did not consider him done enough to take him to the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, despite the fact that he already had an important role in Madrid at that time). Luis Enrique started counting on him a lot, but his problems with Solari stopped his calls: he has not been with Spain since June 2019.

A transfer this winter to a team where they guarantee quality minutes and a lot of prominence could open the door to the National Team for the European Championship next summer. A dynamic midfielder with a lot of goal that Luis Enrique has always valued and has not had since he stopped being important in Madrid; If that situation changes at the club level, it could also do so in the National Team.