La Liga - Real Madrid set for exodus

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Jul 15:09:00 2009

Real Madrid need to sell at least five players to raise the cash to fund more signings, the club's director general Jorge Valdano said.

FOOTBALL. REAL MADRID. Robben y Heinze en su presentación. - 0

The news will put Premier League sides on alert, with several of Madrid's first team set to leave, particularly the large, English-speaking Dutch contingent, including strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Klaas Jan Huntelaar, winger Arjen Robben (pictured right) and midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze (left) has also been linked with a move to England, where he spent three seasons with Manchester United.

Under new president Florentino Perez, Real have spent more than 200 million euros over the past month, including a record 93 million euros on Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and 67m on Brazilian playmaker Kaka.

"We need money to continue being active in the market. And at the moment to get money we have to sell players," Valdano said in an interview with Reuters at the Bernabeu stadium.

"We need to trim at least five players from the squad. The priority over the next few weeks is the sale of players and not the signing of new ones."

Striker Huntelaar, who only arrived in the Spanish capital during the last winter transfer window, has been linked with Bundesliga club Stuttgart, although he is reportedly unhappy with their wage offer.

"Things are progressing with some players," Valdano said when asked how talks on potential sales were going.

"But a bit of calm is needed in some cases because we have to complete the negotiations with the clubs."

Ideally, Real would raise enough money to buy another central midfielder and a defender, he said, and hinted that Sneijder could stay on for this season.

"We need two players for each position," he said. "There are some positions where we have four players and others where we have one. Sneijder is a player that at the moment is important for the club."

Valdano said it was "football fiction" to think that Real would ever attempt to lure Argentina winger Lionel Messi from arch rivals Barcelona.

"At the moment we have not thought about any (Barca) player," he said. "We are involved in another kind of analysis. We have no intention of talking about any Barcelona player."

Valdano also addressed criticism of Real's policy of spending huge sums on star players.

He noted that Perez had doubled revenues and made Real the world's richest club by bringing in "galacticos" like David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane during his first term in 2000-2006.

"When a name like Kaka or Cristiano Ronaldo arrives at a club a virtuous circle is created which is positive in both economic and sporting terms," he said.

"We are hoping for the same effect this time around. I think it's time that Real Madrid was considered a model to follow and not something that needs combating."

He said he was confident the new signings would help boost revenue, even in a time of severe global recession.

"You have to respond in some way to the crisis. Sometimes these situations create great opportunities. Probably without the crisis we would not have been able to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka."

Reuters

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  1. gedeon.joly your are a absolute spastic messi is the­ best player in the world, better than ronaldo kaka and­ benzema and would never leave barca also if barcelona­ are losers why did they win the treble and beat real­ madrid both times last year in the el classico and one­ of the wins was 6-2

    From Sam, on Tue 14 Jul 4:42AM

  2. people got me wrong when i said messi to real
    i mean­ messi will be dreaming to play in madrid like figo
    the­ best in the world are kaka and ronaldo
    kaka won ballon­ d'ador in 2007 and ronaldo last year
    wait and see­ its messi who will say i want to be with kaka and­ ronaldo

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 10:17PM

  3. Real will remain just with spented money and without­ any tropheys this season.
    United the Best.

    From EugenV, on Mon 13 Jul 10:04PM

  4. hahahahahahaha.Messi in Real.never never never

    From catalanfromkosovaalbanian, on Mon 13 Jul 9:58PM

  5. Messi to Real??? Impossible is nothing /Adidas/
    It can­ be in any moment,
    BUTTTT!!!! WE DONT NEED THAT @#$%!!!­ WE have a much more better CRonadlo, Kaka, Benzema,­ Robben, Lass, Sneijder, SRamos, Albiol, Pepe, Marcelo­ and Casillas... (and all the others who wont be in the­ first 11...
    barca is a LOOSER
    HALA MADRID!!!

    getachew­ - Nice thought

    From Olah, on Mon 13 Jul 9:52PM

  6. sorry for Real funs,but if they want to bay genius­ MESSI from Barca,they must sold not only the all team­ including Ronaldo,Kaka and others,they alsow must sold­ all city.Messi is to expensive for Real.

    From catalanfromkosovaalbanian, on Mon 13 Jul 9:29PM

  7. real madrid have now 28 players
    casillas dudek
    ramos,­ pepe, albeol, m.tores, garay, hainzi, marcelo, salgado,­ metzelder
    guti, lass, gago, bueno, snijder, vandervart,­ drenth, guti, kaka, ronaldo, robben
    nisterlroy, raul,­ negredo, higuen, huntelar and benzema
    had sold saviola­ and canavaro
    i think huntelar metzelder drenth m.diara­ and vandervart must be sold
    perez said there are 2 more­ new players
    i hope we bring silva and good left back

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 8:01PM

  8. to raimo k
    mamudo diara to be sold
    we have to keep­ lass, he is 23 years young and good
    real madrid will be­ the best in future if they didn't sell
    higuen 21­ age
    ronaldo 24 age
    benzema 21 age
    albeol, ramos and­ lass 23 age
    gago 21 age
    this are the future of the­ team
    at the moment we need snijder and robben, coz­ alonso and ribery didn't come

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 7:32PM

  9. Love it or hate it. We have a chance to watch Kaka and­ Ronaldo play together now. Thanks for Real. Without­ them, we wouldn't have a chance to see Zidane,­ Figo, Carlos, Beckham, etc played together.

    From Silver N, on Mon 13 Jul 6:02PM

  10. to getachew44 witch diarra needs to be sold?

    From Raimo K, on Mon 13 Jul 5:59PM

  11. #8
    the club will sell him for good price
    barca said­ figo and ronaldinho are not for sell but were­ sold
    money talk louder

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 5:53PM

  12. redmohawk_zane,
    i agreed with u
    both of them are­ superb...
    should not let them go from madrid...

    From Ikhwan, on Mon 13 Jul 5:30PM

  13. post 6, what a ridiculous comment. Messi would never­ leave Barcelona! He has even said it himself. Barcelona­ have done so much for him, and no man with any honour­ at all would leave. Anyway, he would only be moving to­ a worse club. The only reason Ronaldo left, was because­ it is his boyhood club. I think barcelona are still a­ lot better team than real madrid as it stands.

    From Dave, on Mon 13 Jul 5:25PM

  14. liverpool will swap them alonso and arbeloa+5 mil 4­ robbenarbeloa and mamadou diarra

    From d, on Mon 13 Jul 4:54PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    do you think messi will be the next figo?
    perez can­ make some miracles.
    if barca end empty hands next year­ then don't be surprise to see messi with ronaldo­ and kaka wearing the white shirt
    HALA MADRID

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 4:52PM

  16. They shouldn't sell Wesley Sneijder and Arjen­ Robben.

    From redmohawk_zane, on Mon 13 Jul 4:23PM

  17. the 5 players must be sold­ are
    drenth
    vandervart
    diara
    metzelder
    huntelar

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 4:16PM

  18. the 5 players must be sold­ are
    drenth
    vandervart
    diara
    metzelder
    huntelar

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Jul 4:09PM

  19. HALA MADRID! GALACTICO ERA!

    From chechenr, on Mon 13 Jul 3:42PM

  20. Benzema also will fail!

    From Sami, on Mon 13 Jul 3:20PM
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