Florentino Perez has slammed the “lie” that Real Madrid had to pay €10m for the breakdown of David de Gea’s transfer from Manchester United last month.
Speaking at Los Blancos’ General Assembly on Saturday, the President – in addition to outlining the reasons for Carlo Ancelotti’s dismissal – also paid tribute to Iker Casillas for his 25 years of service to the club and defended former Coach Jose Mourinho’s role in the goalkeeper’s departure.
“Iker left because he decided to accept Porto’s offer,” he said.
“He’s the best goalkeeper in Real Madrid and Spanish football’s history. His legacy will always live on at the club.
“Let’s not blame [Jose] Mourinho for what happened with Iker.
“He sat him down but then [Iker] got injured, in came Diego Lopez and Keylor Navas and the criticism followed.
“Porto’s offer finally came in, he asked us to accept it and still the criticism followed.
“There are people who get up every morning with the obsession of harming Real Madrid and Florentino Perez.
“Every day [since the De Gea move broke down], I’ve been hearing that we had to pay €10m for not signing De Gea. That’s a lie.
“[The people who have been spreading this lie] are the same people who have been saying since I arrived that I would make Madrid a PLC.
“Fifteen years later and they’re still accusing me of corrupting assemblies.”
