Manchester City winger Jesus Navas has sparked transfer speculation concerning Spain captain Iker Casillas, who seems to be out of favour at Real Madrid. Navas would like to have Casillas at Manchester City, whose goalkeeper Joe Hart finds himself under increased pressure following an abject performance against Cardiff City last month.
"You always want all good players at your team," Navas told AS. "We are not going to discover Iker just now. We all know the great keeper he is, and the importance he has inside the team."
Jose Mourinho famously dropped Casillas from the Madrid team last season, replacing him with Diego Lopez. Widespread perception was that personal problems between the Portuguese coach and Spain international were influencing the decision. With Mourinho moving on to Chelsea, new Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was expected to restore Casillas to the starting line-up. Ancelotti, however, decided to stick with Lopez, casting the future of Casillas into doubt.
"At City there are great 'keepers, but Iker would be a great reinforcement," Navas said.
Before Madrid's weekend fixture against Athletic Bilbao (which they won 3-1) Ancelotti was asked about the situation regarding his goalkeepers.
"Diego López will be the starting keeper against Athletic," he told Marca. "He's playing well, relaxed. Casillas is a professional and deserves my upmost respect. I want to talk to him in the next few days and explain the situation to him."
With regards to the Spain international leaving, Ancelotti insisted that he would get his chance, while simultaneously underlining that he is second choice.
"Iker hasn't spoken to us about that," Ancelotti continued. "We need two very good keepers and I'm sure that Casillas will get his chance to play this season."
