James wants to stay at Real Madrid, despite lack of game time

James Rodriguez has insisted he wants to stay at Real Madrid, despite falling out of favour under Zidane and even spending the whole Champions League final win over Atletico Madrid on the bench.

Various disappointments both on and off the pitch have seen James relegated to the Madrid bench for a great part of the season under the new French coach. 

The Columbian was again snubbed during the Champions League final, and despite the fact Real used up all three substitutions, James was not brought on.  Zinedine Zidane opted to field his favoured three-man midfield of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, and then decided to replace Kroos with Isco and Benzema with Vazquez instead of James. 

However, speaking since the Champions League triumph, the 24-year-old has revealed his desire to stay at the club. 

"Everybody put in a great performance," James told reporters.

"It has been a strange season. But you learn from it when bad things happen.

"You never know what will happen in football, but my intention is to stay at Madrid.

"I want to stay at this club for many more years. I am happy at Madrid. This is the ideal club for me and I want to stay put."

Manchester United have been heavily linked with the player, and it had been claimed that the player had even put his house for sale and started looking for one in Manchester.