Zidane: James Rodriguez is fit and I'm glad he is with Real Madrid

Ahead of Real Madrid's first match in the 2019/20 LaLiga Santander season, coach Zinedine Zidane admitted he is happy James Rodriguez is part of the squad.

Los Blancos travel to Baidos to take on Celta Vigo on Saturday afternoon and come off the back of a poor pre-season with plenty of question marks of the squad.

"We want to start now," Zidane told the press. "We are thinking about the new LaLiga season and we are happy.

"James is fit and I'm glad he is part of the team.

Dani Carvajal is out of the match against Celta after picking up a suspension at the end of last season which will carry over to the new campaign.

"These are things I can't do anything about," Zidane went on. "It's hard to accept, but we are going to prepare for things to include that change."

In terms of transfers, Real Madrid have been linked with a move for Manchester United's Paul Pogba, as well as a number of exits from the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, but Zidane insisted he is happy with his players.

"I'm happy with my players," Zidane said. "And I'm focussed, like they are, on the first game of the season."