Despite repeating over and over again that, ideally, he doesn’t want to leave Real Madrid, James Rodriguez admitted over the weekend he might have to consider an exit, with Marca on Tuesday in Spain suggesting José Mourinho’s Manchester United as a possible destination.
Used sporadically by Zinedine Zidane, the Colombian attacking midfielder, who thought things were improving with starts against Borussia Dortmund and Deportivo La Coruña, saw his time on the pitch at the Club World Cup reduced considerably, and such decisions from the French manager have made him rethink his future all over again.
Marca on Tuesday report that, despite meetings with Jorge Mendes ending with ‘wait until next summer’, the player could still leave in January.
Of course, any deal midseason would be extremely complicated, notwithstanding the fact any club interested wouldn’t be able to count on him in the Champions League, yet for Manchester United, that wouldn’t be an issue, and Marca make that clear. 
The player, who would join an already large Spanish-speaking contingent at Old Trafford, would be available for the Europa League’s latter stages, and could be a key asset for José Mourinho as the Portuguese manager looks to build on recent good form to close down the gap on the top four.
The Spanish giants aren’t particularly keen on seeing the 25-year-old leave because of his talent, but if James made it clear he wanted to leave, they’d certainly look at the possibility of a transfer.
Despite all this, Marca also state that if Real Madrid are banned from buying players in January (which they are as of Tuesday despite their transfer ban being halved), a transfer for James would be scrapped.
However, we find it hard to believe the club would pass up selling one of their rotation options (he’s only started nine games so far this season) for an inflated price if the opportunity arose regardless of their inability to replace him this winter.
There’s nothing concrete as of yet, but the Spanish newspaper do suggest a few clubs are sniffing around, and with no more football until January 7th for the Colombian, this could be the perfect time for him to weigh up the pros and the cons of potentially forcing a move away from Real Madrid.
