Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas believes his exit from the club would have been even more painful had it been delayed.
Now 37, Casillas left Los Blancos in 2015 to join Porto following a reported fallout with the club’s hierarchy over the years, as he has now detailed.
“If I had continued at Real Madrid I would have had a worse end than the one I had,” Casillas told an interview with Jorge Valdano, as cited by Marca.
“The conflict with Barcelona? It was crazy, it started to be a form of Madridismo that I never liked, it seemed like there was a political war between Catalonia and Spain.
“I'm a Madridista and I want Madrid to always win, but I'm not going to go to that extreme.
“Jose Mourinho? His arrival was to allow us to compete with Barcelona and that led to moments of great tension, that Madridismo began to be formed that I do not like.
“The third year of ours was not all good although La Liga was won and it seems that this was to counteract Barcelona.
“The way the relationship went was not good for me, for Mourinho, for Real Madrid…I would probably take the bull by the horns if it happened again, and not stay quiet.
“I did that at the time to honour the values of the club, of Madrid, but the truth is that we have all kept quiet on it and that is the best way to move on.
“I no longer want to be Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez has made it more complicated to challenge of course but I cannot forget this club gave me everything.
“My future? Every six months I change my mind, so now I am focused on savouring every game I play.”
