James recovers in Madrid amid return talk

James Rodríguez has been ruled out for a month a half by a knee injury suffered in Bayern Munich training earlier this week.

James Rodríguez faces a month and a half on the sidelines as he recovers from a knee injury suffered in Bayern Munich training on Tuesday. The Colombian international, who is on loan at Munich from Real Madrid, has been given permission by the Bundesliga club to travel to the Spanish capital and receive treatment from the physiotherapist Joaquín Juan, who he knows from his time at the Bernabéu.

Not the first time James has been back to Madrid

James loves the city of Madrid, and this is far from the first time that the 27-year-old has returned since leaving for Bayern on a two-year loan deal in summer 2017. During the October international break, for example, he made the most of a few days off to spend time there.

Solari a fan of James, who Bayern are set not to buy

According to a report in Kicker this week, Bayern are not planning to take up their 42m-euro purchase option on James, paving the way for him to return to Real Madrid next summer.

The attacking midfielder, who is under contract with Los Blancos until 2021, is a player who new Madrid coach Santi Solari admires, while he would likely receive a warm welcome back from the club's fans, with whom he established a good rapport during his three years in the team.

Between 2014 and 2017, James made 111 appearances for Madrid, scoring 36 goals and providing 40 assists.