Casillas first person I called – Benitez

• Posted on July 17, 2015July 17, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez has revealed Iker Casillas was the first person he called after joining the club as he tried to convince him to stay.

The goalkeeper left Madrid for Porto last week after a difficult 18 months during which he was criticised for a number of high-profile mistakes.

Manchester United No.1 David De Gea has been strongly linked with a move to the Bernabeu, which pushed Casillas further towards the exit door.

The club have since been criticised for the manner in which they handled his exit, with supporters unhappy at the low-key ceremony afforded to him prior to his departure.

Half a world away from that bitter incident, Benitez and the squad are in Australia for the International Champions Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Speaking ahead of his team’s match against Roma on Saturday, the former Liverpool manager told a news conference he made every attempt to find a solution with the long-serving goalkeeper prior to his exit.

“I want to talk about Casillas,” he said.

“When I first got the job he was the first person I called. We met face to face, we’ve had many discussions. We talked about, in person, many scenarios that would happen.

“I don’t like the division that’s happening within Real Madrid now and that’s got to be put behind us.”

Madrid have become synonymous with big-money moves for star players, having signed the likes of Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez for huge fees in recent seasons.

But if Benitez is true to his word, there could be a shift in priorities at the Santiago Bernabeu after the new boss – a former player and coach of the Castilla ‘B’ team – promised to utilise the long-neglected Madrid ‘cantera’.

“We’ve got the best players in the world here at Real Madrid. To find even better players, it’s hard,” he said.

“If we do bring in players, we’re competing with many clubs, who have a lot of resources available. It’s not just a matter of a player becoming available. There’s many clubs chasing one player.

“We have a great youth system at Real Madrid. We’ve got great youth players coming through our system. We also have an eye on those players. We’d like to give them a chance coming through.

“We understand that they need high quality but we [will] give them a chance. And we would like to develop our own players.”

-goal