The waiting is over. After 72 hours of intense negotiation, Porto and Madrid are set to announce Casillas’ move to the Portuguese league where he will play for the Liga Nos club for two seasons (with a third as optional). Yesterday evening the player’s agents, Carlo Cutropía and Santos Márquez were in discussion with the Portuguese club and a final agreement was eventually reached. Real Madrid and Porto have also agreed terms where no money will be paid for his transfer. The only issue to resolve is the quantity of shortfall that Madrid will pay (Porto will pay the player a quantity between €3 and €3.5 million net per annum). Casillas himself will also accept a cut (he was due a total sum of 14.5 million euro for the two years which were left on his Real Madrid contract).
Real Madrid have also finally realized that Iker deserves a dignified exit considering his time at the Spanish club. As a consequence, they are planning a send-off becoming of a player who has won 18 trophies in his time at the club. This event will take place on either Friday or Saturday (depending on when the final transfer is officially announced) and the club will open the doors of the Bernabéu stadium so the supporters can attend the event and say their goodbye to Casillas.
The farewell event will take place in the VIP area, where Madrid said goodbye to Raúl in the summer of 2010. That event was muted by the fact that the fans weren’t able to attend. This time will be different and the club will actively encourage all supporters to attend the event to see Casillas off. The goalkeeper will be surrounded by all 18 trophies he has won since his time at the club when he joined the youth set-up at just nine years of age.
Julen Lopetegui has been an instrumental influence in Casillas electing to join ‘Os Dragões’. Porto are also in the Champions League which was always a key point for the goalkeeper and he is set to be the star of next season’s Portuguese league. Iker is on his way...