Iker Casillas is preparing the groundwork for his Real Madrid exit as negotiations continue for David De Gea’s move from Manchester United.
Marca reports that both Madrid and Casillas accept that he will leave Santiago Bernabeu this summer, although it has largely gone unspoken in official channels.
Madrid are resolved to sign De Gea even though the transfer is increasingly expensive as United dig in their heels and refuse to let go of their goalkeeper.
The report suggests United are reacting to the agreement between De Gea and Madrid and making the transfer more difficult as a show of strength.
United don’t need the money offered by Madrid and are willing to let De Gea’s contract run down as a result. They are said to have suspected for months De Gea wanted to move to Madrid, particularly when he turned down a contract that would have raised his salary by more than three times its current amount.
Madrid have already increased their €20m offer and don’t want to go higher than €30m for the Spain international.
Casillas, meanwhile, has known since mid-May that his days were numbered at Madrid and his agent has been busy since then.
The decision to let the captain go is one new Coach Rafa Benitez has had little say in. Rather it has been taken by the club.
De Gea hasn’t insisted that Casillas leave, Marca suggesting that the younger custodian feels the expense Madrid are going to would guarantee his status as first choice even if Casillas was present.
Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are among the teams Casillas’ agent, Carlo Cutropia, has spoken to, although the Gunners are about to sign Petr Cech from Chelsea.
Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Inter have also been in contact, as have Besiktas and Fenerbahce, but Casillas doesn’t want to move to Turkey.
A switch to Valencia was a non-starter as Madrid fan Casillas doesn’t want to play against the team he supports, but there have been attempts to soften that stance.
The teams interested in Casillas are willing to wait to see if Madrid let him go on a free transfer and Casillas is prepared for that too, knowing it could happen almost overnight, if there is movement on De Gea.
Casillas has two years on his Madrid contract and could look for a three-year deal if he is let go by Los Blancos.
