Madrid signs goalkeeper Kiko Casilla from Espanyol

“To me, his departure from Real Madrid stinks”.

Real have already had an offer rejected by Espanyol, but Gonzalez has urged Casilla not to refuse the chance as the capital club prepare to make a new bid.

Espanyol president Joan Collet confirmed to AS however that an agreement had been reached for the player, and Real are expected to announce the deal on their end later on Friday.

One person who has not joined up with the squad in Australia is Iker Casillas, who ended his 25-year association with Real by joining Porto over the weekend.

Jesús Bengoechea of the soccer site La Galerna recently caused a stir when he said popular sports publications in the country like AS and Marca have unfairly criticized Costa Rican Keylor Navas because he’s not of Spanish origin.

New arrival Casilla, 28, played for Madrid’s youth teams before stints with different Spanish clubs. Since then he has repaid his family many times over with his exploits between the posts. I’m optimistic in that respect and I am calm.

A season later he was promoted to the club’s first team and despite spending two loan spells away from the club, he managed 115 league appearances over his seven years in the first team set-up. “You’d have to ask them why they did it like that, but that’s not my business”.

“Ronaldo, Bale, they’re both so good, for me it isn’t a problem”.

“It is only human for people to want to express themselves, but it is clearly in the past now”, Casillas said.

Casillas also took the opportunity to sign some autographs for fans gathered at the museum.

Rafael Benitez is delighted to be in Melbourne to kick off his managerial career with Real Madrid but not so upbeat about the MCG surface for tomorrow’s clash with AS Roma.

“Espanyol is very lucky to have him”. “It’s hard for me to leave a club that I love and where I have been for several years”.

“It is like asking my daughter if she prefers my wife or me”.