Messi for Madrid was Perez dream
REAL Madrid president Florentino Perez has revealed that he would have loved to bring Lionel Messi to the Bernabeu.
The Argentine has been at Barcelona since the age of 13, winning eight La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and five Ballons d’Or at Camp Nou.
Perez has admitted that it would have been a dream to bring the forward to Barcelona’s bitter rivals, but that any dreams of Messi were just dreams due to the fact Barca recruited him at such a young age.
“Of course we would have loved to have had Messi at Madrid,” Perez told Onda Cero.
“But he was in the Barca youth team so it could never have happened!”
Meanwhile, Perez is “not contemplating” Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the European champions, despite talk of the disgruntled star returning to Manchester United.
The reigning Ballon d’Or and Best FIFA Men’s Player award winner is believed to feel singled out for disproportionate treatment after Spanish prosecutors accused him of evading tax of £12.8m).
Those allegations were denied in a statement by Ronaldo’s management company Gestifute, while Real Madrid say they have “full confidence” in a player who “will prove his total innocence in this process”.
But the situation has stuck in the craw for Ronaldo, leading the Portugal captain to tell those close to him that he wants to quit the club and the country.
United have been strongly linked with a move for their former forward, but Perez is not thinking about the possibility of Real losing their talisman.
“I want to talk with him,” the long-serving Real president told Onda Cero. “I have a good relationship with him after working together for eight years.
“I will talk with him when the Confederations Cup has finished.
“I’m not contemplating that Cristiano will leave. Right now he is a Madrid player. Something very odd will have to happen for him to go.
“And I’m not contemplating that, especially without speaking with him.”
Perez also poured cold water on a move for United’s Spanish keeper De Gea this summer, saying he has grown to love Navas as talk of a deal for unsettled teenage AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma continues.
He said: “Last year we had a chance that we did not take and now we have no agreement with Manchester United to sign him. The truth is that we have great goalkeepers.”