As This Is Futbol reported on Saturday, Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea will reject a move to Real Madrid this summer if the European champions don’t sell long-serving No.1 Iker Casillas.
Having made 716 appearances for Los Blancos, winning three Champions League titles, and claimed a record-breaking 161 caps for Spain, lifting the 2010 World Cup and European Championships in 2008 and 2012, Casillas is viewed so favorably in his home country that he’s often referred to as ‘St Iker’.
Such status has caused serious problems for Real Madrid’s other goalkeepers in recent years; despite often showing superior form to the 33 year-old, Diego Lopez found himself sold to AC Milan last summer, whilst Costa Rica star Keylor Navas has gone on to record only two La Liga starts since his Bernabeu arrival following the 2014 World Cup.
And reports from The Daily Star today claim Real Madrid have no plans to sell the Arsenal and Liverpool-linked goalkeeper at the end of the season.
“Iker was very clear, he wants to stay. We want him to. I want him to,” Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti recently revealed.
“He doesn’t need protection. Iker has broad shoulders and is a great professional. It is just different for goalkeepers because — unless there is an injury to the other keeper — they are not able to enter the game.
“There are other players who can come on for 15 minutes or 30 seconds and make a difference in a match,” he added.
As a consequence, De Gea is now expected to turn down a summer move to the Bernabeu. But with just a year remaining on his Old Trafford contract, he could still be on the move this summer.