Casillas ‘jealous of Xavi & Gerrard’

Iker Casillas has revealed he watched the tributes paid to Xavi Hernandez and Steven Gerrard with a tinge of jealousy but isn’t leaving Real Madrid yet.

Xavi and Gerrard are both leaving their clubs this summer, the former heading to Al-Sadd and the latter LA Galaxy, and were given emotional send-offs at Camp Nou and Anfield.

Casillas’ relationship with the Santiago Bernabeu crowd has been much more complicated of late, with the goalkeeper jeered by some sections of the stadium as Madrid beat Getafe to end the campaign, and supported by others.

“I don’t cry about the whistles but I have gone home angry. Madrid asks for the best of you, every year. I’ve been in the first team for 16 years and at the club for 25, and if your level is eight you can’t go down to seven-and-a-half,” he said, AS reports, in an interview with El Laguero.

“I’ll be with the fans who applaud. I understand those who whistle. I’ve had days where I’ve thought about quitting, but then I thought ‘what the heck.’

“My relationship with the President is good. It’s the closest of my captaincy. I understand this year isn’t the same as the first year. He has a lot to occupy him, but he has eaten with us whenever he’s been able to.

“I’m sure I’ll be here next season. I want to finish my career here. But there’s the chance I could go to a smaller League. If things weren’t working I’d have to leave.

“Now I feel good, strong. I’ll face the new season as if it was my first here, that’s my challenge.

“It’s nonsense [that his conversation with Xavi was ‘treason’]. Vicente Del Bosque said that if there were problems in the national team he would take action. There was a lot of tension in the call.

“We spoke and I chatted with Carles Puyol. In that situation, as captain of the national team, I decided to call. We said we shouldn’t give that image of the national team. Then at a training camp, we had a coffee and things calmed down. But treason, how? If it annoyed Madrid fans, I’m sorry.

“I was a bit jealous [of Xavi and Gerrard] but not that much as I’m not moving. But I am happy for them, they deserve it.”

Tags Iker Casillas Liverpool Steven Gerrard Xavi Hernandez
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