Sandro Rosell has looked to raise eyebrows today with the comment that: “There is one Real Madrid player I have admired for many years.”
The Barcelona President was speaking to Punto Radio today and discussed a number of topics, including his apparent long-standing interest in an unnamed player at rivals Madrid.
“There is one player at Real Madrid who I have admired for years, but I will not say who it is because it will create a circus,” Rosell teased.
“Madrid have great players and of course there are some that I would like to sign. Is the player I talk about Iker Casillas? I will not give you any clues.
“Is Cristiano Ronaldo available? Sometimes those that are ‘free’ are very expensive.”
The President also had a word to sum up Barcelona’s first half of the current season.
“The first half of the league was historic. The work put in by Tito Villanova and the team is excellent.”
It was confirmed this week that Pep Guardiola will come up against Barcelona in a preseason friendly organised against his new Bayern Munich side for July.
“We put the finishing touches to the arrangements in Qatar, but the game has been on the cards for about six months now – well before we knew that Guardiola was going to coach there.
“We miss him, yes. Much can be said in the football history of the link he formed with the club, but life goes on. If he wanted to be Barcelona President, I would vote yes.”
Rosell was also quizzed on Barca’s current financial situation.
“When we won the elections we had a look at the accounts. We have reduced our debt but we have to continue with austerity and look for other sources of income.
“We still owe money, but we don't owe anything to the government or to the players, our debt is under control. Now we are at around €300m.
“Broadcasting income? Television money represents a third of our income, but the bigger the club is, the smaller it is.
“For the smaller clubs it represents 80 per cent of their income. Ourselves and Madrid can live without it, but the others cannot.”
