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Real Madrid eye Malaga’s rising star Isco

The 21-year-old has been linked with a host of top clubs around Europe after inspiring Malaga to the Champions League quarter-finals this season, but he is determined to ensure he will play a significant role wherever he ends up.

Published: 28 May 2013 09:30 CEST

Real Madrid eye Malaga's rising star Isco

Isco hasn't ruled out the possibility of linking up with Pellegrini once more at Manchester City.Photo: Patrik Stollarz/AFP

“It is a very important decision for my future and I don’t want to make a mistake,” he told reporters as the Spanish Under-21 squad met up for the first time ahead of next month’s European Championships.

“I have doubts because I want to play, wherever it may be, and that is the most important thing for me. Afterwards I don’t want to lament not having enjoyed enough minutes.

“I said goodbye to La Rosaleda on a good note and it was very emotional.

“It is true they have met with Real Madrid and that there is interest, but right now I am concentrating on the under-21s and no one knows yet what the future will hold.”

Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini has already confirmed that he will leave the club in the summer with the Chilean strongly linked to take over at Manchester City next season.

And Isco didn’t rule out the possibility of linking up with Pellegrini once more in Manchester.

“Pellegrini has told me he likes me a lot and that is an honour for me.

“He has been my footballing father. I know he loves me and of course I would love to continue with him because he gives me all the confidence in the world.”

However, the former Valencia man also confirmed the language barrier may put him off a move to England as he doesn’t yet speak good English.

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Malaga to trial Spain's first self-driving bus

Image: Largeroliker / WikiCommons

Created as part of the AutoMOST R + D + I project in participation with Avanza bus company and Malaga City Council, the 12-metre electric bus features autonomous driving technology and will be a revolutionary addition to the transport system.

The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, companied by the president of the Port of Malaga Authority, Carlos Rubio, and the general director of Avanza, Valentin Alonso were the first to ride in this driverless bus.

Mayor de la Torre said “Malaga has been a pioneer in creating ways to improve life in the city”. “We were also the first city to implement contactless cards on buses,” he added.

The self-driving bus is the first of its kind to circulate in real traffic and will be in operation on line 90 from the Maritime Station in the port area to the Paseo del Parque in the front of the City Hall.

Malaga will become the first European city to implement this new autonomous driving technology in a bus, which is also environmentally friendly, run fully on electricity and which produces zero emissions.

The city council said in a statement that this move reinforces Malaga’s commitment to sustainable mobility and the use of new technologies adapted to transport.

In previous projects, self-driving tests have only been carried out using smaller vehicles, not the standard 12-metre buses that are in daily circulation around the city.

12-metre buses are the world standard, so in theory it will be possible to implement this same type of technology in other models of the same size around the world.

In order for the technology to work, Malaga City Council has invested 180,000 euros in smart traffic lights, which communicate with the bus telling it when to go and stop.

Initially the self-driving bus will run for three weeks, but the traffic lights will remain in place, allowing for the implementation of other self-driving systems in the future, such as driverless cars.

For the next three weeks, residents can ride the self-driving bus completely free of charge. It will operate from Saturday February 20th to March 13th, from Tuesdays to Saturdays 9:30am to 2:30pm.

You can book a ticket on the bus in advance by visiting www.emtmalaga.es.

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