Florentino Perez believes negativity from the fans is part of what caused Iker Casillas to want to leave Real Madrid and wants to avoid a repeat.
Casillas left his boyhood club over the summer, signing for Porto, and the Madrid President has reflected on the situation in an interview with El Laguero.
“A player who is a legend, you can’t have the two years he has had. It’s not normal that a group of fans have such an influence with the whistles at him,” Marca reports Perez as saying.
“The ones who whistled are the violent ones who fortunately are no longer in Santiago Bernabeu. Some of the Press defends them.
“I didn’t speak to Iker the day he left. There were two very bad years, with tension that he has spoken about.
“Casillas’ exit should make us think about Madrid. We should stop whistling our players. It’s the same as whistling our brother in a family. We have to take care of the players.
“He got an offer and asked me to help him go to Porto, which for him was a liberation. We did everything we could and he deserved the chance. He’s very happy at Porto, more than his last years in Madrid.
“It was Casillas who said he didn’t want a farewell or anything. I was wrong to have agreed, I admit that, but it was his request. Then I called him to tell him this wasn’t right and he agreed with me.
“I worry that with the pressure from the Press, some players won’t want to come here in future.”
