Iker Casillas’ future is looking increasing further away from the Bernabéu - but not that far - 559 kilometres to be precise. Porto is the destination which the Madrid captain has elected, after reaching an agreement with his agent, Carlo Cutropía, and with the Portuguese club on Saturday. Porto are serious about signing Casillas and have offered him a two-year deal with the possibility of a third. A written offer was sent to the player and the Bernabéu offices.
Porto are prepared to meet part of Casillas’ salary demands (around 30%) and hope that Madrid will make up the remainder. Iker has two seasons to run on his existing contract during which he is expected to earn 7.5 million euros net this season and 7 million in 2016-17. Madrid are reticent about meeting such a high percentage of Casillas’ wages but the player is confident that the president and José Ángel Sánchez will honour their word and comply with the promise they pacted with him at the end of last season (Casillas held a meeting with José Ángel Sánchez after the campaign ended). He was told, “Bring us an offer and we will do what we can to help you leave Real Madrid”. The club insists that Iker must renounce part of the 14.5 million euros he stands to earn over the next two years to accelerate his exit. Cristian Tello is Porto’s best paid player, taking home 2.4 million per annum...
Yesterday, Cutropía confirmed that his client had received an offer for Porto.
Tello, con 2,4 netos, es el mejor pagado en el Oporto... Cutropía confirmó ayer la existencia de la oferta portuguesa: “Iker is interested in Porto and Porto is interested in Iker”·
Lopetegui. Casillas would like to complete the two years he has left to run at Madrid, but he is conscious that Rafa Benítez’s arrival leaves him with few options of gaining regular minutes. The coach has spoken with Keylor Navas and confirmed his faith in him while Madrid are pulling out all the stops to sign David de Gea. “I want to retire here but I would never want to be a problem for Madrid”, Casillas confessed on El Larguero on 27 May.
Porto fulfils all of Iker’s expectations; just one week ago he was also mulling over whether to join Roma. But a phonecall from Julen Lopetegui changed everything. Julen has known Iker for many years and made it clear that he would be a key player in his set-up. Lopetegui’s last first choice keeper Fabiano has joined Fenerbahçe, leaving just his deputy, Helton Arruda who hardly featured at all last season after suffering a serious Achilles injury.
Spanish Porto. Iker hasn’t only been convinced by Lopetegui and the confidence he has placed in him. He is also encouraged by the number of Spaniards who are already on the books at Porto: Tello, Marcano, Adrián, Andrés Fernández and Alberto Bueno). He will also not be too far away from his family and friends – Porto is just a 45-minute flight from Madrid. The language isn’t too much of a problem but most importantly, Porto are in this season’s Champions League.
Casillas hopes that Madrid and Porto can come to some kind of agreement before Friday, when the squad is expected to report back for duty in Valdebebas. Madrid meanwhile, hope to close the de Gea deal within the next two weeks.