There are only a few days left in a year that was not easy for James Rodriguez.
He could not shine with the Colombian national team and at Real Madrid injuries got in the way, so he was unable to get a run of games under Zinedine Zidane, despite showing a different attitude since returning from a loan spell at Bayern Munich. Zidane had wanted to give more minutes to the 28-year-old.
In 2020, with so much ahead of him with Colombia and the final stretch of the Champions League, James will have to be 100 percent recovered from his injury; he mustn't rush and that will allow him to fight for a place again.
This will mean that he will be present with La Tricolor at the start of the qualifying rounds and at the Copa America.
Once the end of the year celebrations are over, James will train with Real Madrid, like he did at the end of last week.
Without an exit on the cards in the January transfer market, all roads lead to a triumphant return in Los Blancos' shirt.
His talent and the affection of the fans is there. He just needs minutes.