- James Rodriguez has fallen down the pecking order at Real Madrid
- Rodriguez has seen his minutes on the pitch limited under Zinedine Zidane
- Inter Milan were interested in signing the Colombian from Real Madrid
- Rodriguez rejected Inter's advances and chose to stay at the Bernabeu
Inter Milan agreed a whopping £76million deal with Real Madrid to sign James Rodriguez in the summer but their attempts to bring the Colombian playmaker to the San Siro were in vain.
Rodriguez rejected Inter's advances, opting instead to knuckle down at the Bernabeu and convince Real boss Zinedine Zidane that he should be given more game-time, according to Gazzetta.
The former Monaco midfielder enjoyed an impressive first season with the Spanish giants after signing from the Ligue 1 outfit in the summer of 2014 for £63m.
Real Madrid star James Rodriguez rejected a £76million summer move to Inter Milan
Inter had agreed a deal with Real Madrid but Rodriguez decided to stay at the Bernabeu
The 25-year-old fell out of favour under Zinedine Zidane but has started the season well
But injuries and questions over his attitude, along with the emergence of anchorman Casemiro, meant Rodriguez spent much of the 2015-16 season on the bench.
Inter, who were bought by Suning Holding Group in the summer, spent heavily in the summer but were keen to bolster their ranks further with the signing of Rodriguez.
Meetings between the two clubs took place and while the Italian giants did manage to agree an eye-watering fee with Los Blancos, they could not convince Rodriguez to swap Madrid for Milan.
Inter spent heavily on the likes of Joao Mario (left) and Gabriel Barbosa (right) in the summer
Inter did sign Joao Mario, Antonio Candreva and Gabriel Barbosa for a combined total of £80m but are still waiting for their big-money stars to adapt to the methods of new coach Frank de Boer. The Nerazzurri currently occupy ninth place in the Serie A table with 11 points, seven adrift of leaders Juventus.
Rodriguez is yet to fully reclaim his place in Madrid's starting line-up but has made an encouraging start to the new season.
The 25-year-old has scored once and provided three assists in just three starts for Zidane's men, who have drawn their last four games.
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