Effenberg urges Rodriguez to leave Bayern
Former Bayern Munich captain Stefan Effenberg has said that Colombian star James Rodriguez should leave the club in order to pick up more game time.
"The right path for James is to leave Bayern," wrote Effenberg in his column for the German news website T-online yesterday.
Rodriguez, 27, joined Bayern from Real Madrid in 2017, on a two-year loan deal which expires at the end of this season.
Bayern have the option to buy Rodriguez permanently for 42 million euros (S$64m), but the midfielder has not been a regular under Niko Kovac.
Rodriguez has started on the bench in 11 of his 24 league appearances this season, and has played the full 90 minutes on only three occasions.
"He has to play and enjoy his football, but he cannot do that if he is allowed limited game time," wrote Effenberg, who added that Rodriguez should find another club as " it will be difficult for him to get regular appearances at Real as well" . - AFP
Fifa to consider concussion substitutions
Fifa is open to having discussions about temporary substitutions if players suffer serious head injuries in matches, its medical committee head Michel D'Hooghe has told the Times newspaper.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen tried to play on following a head clash in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final, first-leg 1-0 defeat by Ajax Amsterdam before going off, prompting brain injury charity Headway to call for changes to the rules.
"Introducing substitutes specifically for concussion is a possibility and something worth discussing," D'Hooghe told The Times.
"But if you bring a player off for 10 minutes and he is then reintroduced without warming up properly, it's more likely to lead to muscle injuries... There are problems with that too."
Meanwhile, Spurs have said that Vertonghen will undergo further tests for the next few days. - REUTERS
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