James Rodriguez wants long-term stay at Real Madrid

Real Madrid forward James Rodriguez has made an apparent U-turn over his future by claiming that he intends to stay at the club for "a lot longer".

The Colombia international revealed in December that he was tempted to leave the Bernabeu after growing unsettled by a lack of playing time under Zinedine Zidane.

A number of bids were received for Rodriguez, who made just eight La Liga appearances for Madrid in the first half of the season, but after being given the nod to start against Napoli in midweek he has now changed his tune.

"I think everything is going well - Madrid are a big club and I always wanted to be here," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "Good and bad things always happen but I want to stay here for a lot longer.

"I always train to play and I want to be here. You always want to play, now that I have more game time, everything is slowly changing."

Rodriguez, linked with Chelsea during the January transfer window, had his ability talked up by Zidane on the eve of Wednesday's 3-1 win over Napoli.