Atletico Madrid grow pessimistic over chances of signing James Rodriguez Atletico Madrid Real Madrid are making it difficult

The new season is just a few weeks away and the Atletico Madrid directors are continuing to work hard to bring in one more piece.

There have already been several exciting arrivals and the 7-3 pre-season win over Real Madrid provided cause for optimism, however there is some pessimism creeping in when it comes to the pursuit of James Rodriguez.

The player wants to return to the city of Madrid and he would be keen to play for Atleti, but the feeling at the club is that he won't ultimately be signed due to the difficulty in negotiating his transfer with Real Madrid.

Although the friendly in New Jersey was a chance for the directors of both clubs to meet, the difference between the performances of the two teams makes it even more difficult to convince Real Madrid to sell to a domestic and city rival that already looks so strong.

Atletico's directors are hopeful of advancing talks with their Real Madrid counterparts, but there have been no steps forward and a complete turnaround isn't really looking likely.

Zinedine Zidane isn't planning on using the Colombian in the upcoming season and Real Madrid would prefer to sell him to Napoli, the other club that has been interested in his services throughout the summer.

For Atletico, this is a complicated puzzle that seems like it will be difficult to solve.

They have also been linked with Christian Eriksen this summer, but his signing would be very complicated as well and his arrival at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano isn't expected by Los Rojiblancos or by the player's representatives.

Pre-season has been going well for Atletico Madrid, but acquiring that final piece of quality is proving difficult.