Changes bring the best out of resurgent Rodriguez

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Terrassa (Barcelona), February 7: After arriving in Bayern Munich, a year ago from Real Madrid, James Rodriguez was a shell of his former self when Carlo Ancelotti was in charge.

However, with the arrival of new manager Jupp Heynckes, the Colombian has played some wonderful football with several changes leading to the midfielder's resurgence in Bundesliga.

In just 12 starts with new boss in charge, the former Monaco star has scored four goals and contributed six assists, with his latest goal -- a fine volley against Mainz last weekend - helping the Bavarian club to secure a run of 10 successive Bundesliga victories.

Heynckes was brought in to steady the ship after a disastrous start to the season, and under the veteran coach, Rodriguez began to improve from day one.

The Colombian has the full support of his coach, something the 26-year-old never got from Zinedine Zidane at Madrid.

The most important thing that Heynckes did to bring the best out of Rodriguez is the freedom he has given to him as a midfielder. He could freely operate just behind the lone forward, supplementing the attacking runs made by the wingers.

Nobody disputes his place in the team, and his team-mates at the Allianz Arena -- Thomas Muller, Arturo Vidal and Javi Martinez -- have spoken highly of the former Porto midfielder, making him feel an indispensable part of the group.

Now, with Rodriguez finding his form at Bayern and, with his loan deal set to run until June, 2019, his future depends on the German club.

So impressive has his form been that there have been speculation that a summer return to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu could be on the cards. However Los Blancos do not have an option to recall him as part of the loan agreement.

For each season of the loan, Bayern will pay 6.5 million euros to the Spanish club and they retain an option to purchase him for a further 42 million euros. The contract was revealed in full by Football Leaks and this made clear that Real Madrid cannot cut the loan short in the summer.

Similarly, Bayern Munich cannot purchase the player fully at the end of the 2017/18 season, which is important when you consider that the midfielder's contract runs only till June, 2020, one year after the scheduled end of the loan.

Whilst his initial opportunity came courtesy of an injury to Thomas Muller, Heynckes' arrival has given Rodriguez a new lease of life and he is now an integral part of the team.

Rodriguez has always felt a strong bond with Real Madrid, they are his dream club and in their current predicament it's difficult to see him failing to get in the team.

In an interview with Spanish television show El Chiringuito de Jugones, the former Porto star made his intentions clear.

"For the moment I'm only thinking about Bayern," he admitted.

"In the future nobody knows what'll happen, it depends exclusively on me whether I stay or go.

"I don't know if they miss me in Madrid, but they all saw what I could do and I think the fans loved me. A lot could change between now and decision time, but James' stock is currently rising," he pointed out.

(The author is a freelancer based in Barcelona).