Chelsea and Manchester United target James Rodriguez bagged a Copa Del Rey brace against Sevilla on Wednesday - and then declared he is staying at Real Madrid.
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The Colombian international has long been touted to move on from the Bernabeu after falling down the pecking order under Zinedine Zidane.
Rodriguez has still only started four La Liga matches this season, but his double against Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey might prove to be his turning point, and certainly in the eyes of the player, it was the right time to declare his position after recent speculation.
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Quoted by "?Sky Sports after the game, he said: "Now a new year has begun for me and I'm staying at Madrid. Everyone in the team wants to play all the time, and we all go through bad moments.
"I just want to play well when I have the chance and be able to do good things like I did today and help the team by scoring goals."
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The former Monaco ace was given his chance in the absence of superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. It didn't take him long to open the scoring - 11 minutes to be precise as he fired in a stunning long range effort, before adding a second from the penalty spot.
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Rodriguez's performance was a reminder of the talents that have seemingly been forgotten by many since his demotion to the Madrid bench.
It looks as though the performance was one of defiance from a player with something to prove, rather than an audition for a potential new suitor.
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Real Madrid look to continue their stunning season when they face relegation-threatened Granada on Saturday - with James hoping to be in the picture to start once again."?