James not looking for Real Madrid return as he favours Bayern stay

James Rodriguez has reiterated his desire to make a permanent move to Bayern Munich, rather than return to Real Madrid.

The Colombia international first linked up with the Bundesliga champions in 2016 after being deemed surplus to requirements in Spain.

A two-year loan switch was sanctioned, and that agreement will come to a close next summer.

Bayern have the option to complete a purchase at that stage and James hopes they will activate that clause.

The 27-year-old is currently sidelined through injury and has struggled to reproduce his form from last season as the Bavarian giants have struggled as a collective.

He is, however, enjoying his time in Germany and would like to see it extended.

James told those in attendance at a meeting with a Bayern fan club: “It's a different situation to last year because I am playing less.

“If I have to go because of lacking play time, then I will. But I would like to stay because I really feel the love of the fans and the whole Bayern family.”

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James suffered knee ligament damage in November, with Bayern announcing at the time that he was facing up to “several weeks” on the sidelines.

Positive progress is being made in his rehabilitation and a return to action is already being chased down.

It could be that he returns to Niko Kovac’s plans before the end of the calendar year and a winter break in Germany.

James added: “I hope that I will recover completely in one to two weeks.”

Bayern’s next outing will see them play host to Nurnberg on Saturday before wrapping up their Champions League group stage campaign with a trip to Ajax.

They will then take in domestic meetings with Hannover, RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt before the Bundesliga shuts down until mid-January.

Kovac could do with seeing his side end 2018 with a flurry of wins, as a disappointing showing so far has a dominant force in German football sat fourth in the table, nine points back on leaders Borussia Dortmund.