Real Madrid’s ‘marvellous’ Isco playing game of risk with club: Primera Liga in focus

Isco of Real Madrid celebrates scoring their second goal against Deportivo Alaves at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 2, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images

Real Madrid are the only Primera Liga team unbeaten at home so far this season.

That record will be put to its toughest test in el clasico on April 23, but even with a much-changed back four, they overcame Alaves 3-0 at the weekend, with two of the goals in the last five minutes from Isco and Nacho.

It is doubtful that either would be selected in Madrid’s strongest side, yet Isco is one of the most technically proficient footballers, the diamond in the rough of Madrid’s late win on Sunday.

His talent has been clear from when his hometown club Malaga paid €6 million (Dh23.4m) for the then-19-year-old after only four Primera Liga matches with Valencia in 2011.

At Malaga, the attacking midfielder blossomed into the role of playmaker after the departure of Santi Cazorla.

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Hailed as “the new Andres Iniesta” and a future midfield leader of the Spanish national team, he brought unpredictability to Malaga’s attacking play with well-timed runs, precise passing and ability to finish.

Spain’s young player of the year, Madrid came calling in 2013 and paid €30m for him.

While Isco’s talent is seldom doubted — and he has been largely exceptional when called upon especially in a forward role — his future at Madrid has been.

His goal and balletic performance against the Basques on Sunday made the headlines across the Madrid-supporting media.

"Isco Marvellous" declared the cover of Monday's Marca. He is marvellous, but does he have a future at Madrid?

Still only 24, Isco has started only half their 28 league games this season, scoring seven times and making five assists.

Ten of those starts have come at home, though he was chosen to start at both neighbours Atletico and Barcelona away.

He has started only one of Madrid’s eight games in the Uefa Champions League, cutting a frustrated figure, rarely used in his preferred advanced role behind the striker.

As in the previous two seasons, Isco is being linked with moves to top Premier League sides.

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur both want the footballer from the Costa del Sol. They would make him one of their top-paid players on far more than his current contract at the Bernabeu, which expires in 2018.

That puts him in a very strong position because he could leave for free in little over a year and sign a massive contract with an English team.

Madrid are publicly adamant that they want him to stay and manager Zinedine Zidane explicitly stated that after Sunday’s game, saying: “When Isco plays, as he is a good player, he does very well. That’s it. We are 24 players and everyone here is important.”

But a truer indication will likely come from president Florentino Perez, though he told fans that he wanted Angel di Maria and Mesut Ozil to stay before selling them for huge fees to England.

Is Isco important enough to make him one of Madrid’s top earners?

Reports in Spain state that Isco wants €10m a year, the golden figure which Sergio Ramos held out for, allowing himself to be linked to Manchester United as a bargaining ploy before staying where he is loved.

Madrid can easily afford to increase Isco’s salary and put him in the same wage bracket as Sergio Ramos and above Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, four players who are integral to Madrid.

Having a player on more money than them who does not start most games would undoubtedly cause tension.

For now, Isco says he is “very happy” and he is all smiles as he basks in the headlines after Sunday’s success, a match in he was spotted playing football with his son on the Bernabeu pitch before kick off.

Like his dad, his son had a Real Madrid shirt on. It will be interesting to see if they are both still in white in September.

A long recovery road for Rossi

It is 10 years since Giuseppe Rossi left Manchester United for Villarreal in a €10 million (Dh39m) deal.

The Italian-American who was raised in New Jersey was 20 and showing the type of potential which had seen The National columnist Diego Forlan become a success at Villarreal after moving from Old Trafford.

Like Forlan, Rossi quickly realised it in Spain, where he played every week and scored more and more goals each season.

Rossi needed to play first-team football rather than being the standout in United’s reserves, but breaking into an attack led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez was a tougher ask.

His quick feet and instinct were compared to Gary Lineker and Alessandro del Piero.

Rossi prospered as Villarreal finished second in 2008, 10 points ahead of Barcelona whom they beat home and away.

By 2011, following a 32-goal season for his club, he was Barcelona’s second transfer target after Alexis Sanchez, with fees agreed.

When the Chilean moved to Camp Nou, Rossi stayed at El Madrigal where his fortunes would take a drastic turn for the worse.

In October 2011 he ruptured his cruciate ligament. In April 2012 he repeated the same injury.

He moved to Fiorentina in an €11.8m deal in 2013, but injuries limited him to one good half season. A horrendous tackle by Leandro Rinaudo cut his season short in January 2014 when he was Serie A’s leading scorer.

By January 2016 he was loaned to Levante to try to help them stay in the Primera Liga. Fiorentina loaned him to another Spanish club, Celta Vigo, for this season.

The 29-time Italian international is not a first choice for Celta and has started only seven league games. Nor has he been his old prolific self, with only three goals in all competitions before Monday’s league game against Las Palmas.

But he doubled his total for the season with a hat-trick inside an hour in a 3-1 win which lifted Celta to 10th in the league.

With John Guidetti, another player who served his apprenticeship in Manchester, injured, Rossi started as the lead striker in a 4-2-3-1 and the goals lifted his confidence.

Afterwards, he was happy to tweet them to his 948,000 followers with the words: “A great victory for the team! Thanks lads! Thanks fans!”

A fit-and-firing Rossi is a great boost for a Celta side who appeared to be running out of steam after reaching the semi-final of the Copa del Rey and the last eight of the Europa League, where they will be fancied to beat Belgian side Genk.

With their best player Iago Aspas complemented by Guidetti, Celta have talent and have beaten both Barca and Madrid this season. With a fit and in-form Rossi, that attack will be massively boosted.

Player of the week

• Simone Zaza: Valencia's on-loan striker Zaza, 25, did not score in their 3-0 win at home to Deportivo, but he was the man of the match as they continue to rise up the table. The Juventus player started the season at West Ham United before a January move to Mestalla. Valencia are 13th in the table, which is not good enough for a team of their size, but could rise after tomorrow's home game to Celta Vigo.

Game of the week

• Barcelona v Sevilla, at 9.30pm Wednesday: It is second versus fourth, but Sevilla have faded badly and are without a win in their past five games. They are also facing the departure of director of football and former goalkeeper Monchi, the key man in their decade-long run of success. Real Madrid also play tonight at neighbours Leganes, who hold a fragile five-point cushion above the relegation zone.

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