Real Madrid Coach Carlo Ancelotti is alleged to have said in an interview that the club were wrong to sell Mesut Ozil to Arsenal.
AS reports that the comments were made earlier in January to Gulf News and only recently came to light.
Madrid however deny that Ancelotti made the remarks and insist that no interview with a publication by that name took place.
After the quotes were published by AS, Madrid’s press relations chief, Carlos Carbajosa, issued a denial by text message.
“I think we made a mistake when we allowed [Ozil] to leave the club,” Ancelotti is quoted as saying.
“Either way, we have fantastic strikers but need reinforcements after Higuain’s departure.”
But Carbajosa reportedly told AS that the interview, said to have been held in Qatar when Madrid were preparing for a friendly with Ancelotti’s former club, Paris Saint-Germain, never happened.
“Ancelotti has not given an interview with Gulf News.
“He did not make any statements about Ozil.
“The Coach’s thoughts on Ozil remain the same: Maximum respect for him, fully aware of his departure and he takes responsibility for it.
“He has answered every question on Ozil the same way. It lacks journalistic sense to think he would say otherwise now.
“Both the alleged interview and the content are false as the majority should have guessed.”
AS attempted to contact the journalist credited with the Ancelotti interview but were unable to do so.
