Iker Casillas remains firm in his stance of wanting to continue at Real Madrid in the game of chess that has become his future. But before the possible arrival of David de Gea which would force his exit, the captain has his preferences and London would be his ideal city. Over there, there are two clubs who could end up proving to be his next destination: Tottenham and Arsenal. The first club, according to The Independent, will make an offer for the captain. They speak of a three-way merry-go-round in which the three clubs would exchange goalkeepers – Hugo Lloris would go to United, De Gea would land in Madrid and Casillas would end up at White Hart Lane.
Arsenal had interest in Casillas last year, but the option was not carried out because they want him on a free transfer. Arsene Wenger continues to look upon the arrival of the Madrid captain favourably as Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina have not yet convinced him. The Gunners have an advantage ahead of Tottenham: they have secured qualification for next season’s Champions League.
The third interested London-based club is Crystal Palace, although they have far fewer chances of being able to sign the Spain international. Despite that, London would be Casillas’ first-choice destination if he has to leave, although he has not ruled out Rome (there is interest from Roma) or Paris (PSG).
The picture. Casillas’ situation has not changed. He says that he wants to continue at Madrid. His idea, if the club tell him that they want him to go, is for Real Madrid to pay up the remainder of his contract: €7.5m for this season and €7m for the following season (€14.5m net in total). Madrid, for their part, maintain their position of wanting him to continue (José Ángel Sánchez transmitted that desire to him), but news has filtered out that once De Gea arrives, Casillas will be the third-choice goalkeeper. Therefore, that may put pressure on Casillas to leave of his own accord and Madrid would save €14.5m.