Florentino Perez: Deadline Forced Real Madrid To Pick Karim Benzema Over David Villa

Real Madrid had been credited with an interest in both Karim Benzema and Valencia's David Villa but ultimately decided to make a swoop for the Lyon ace because les Gones put a deadline on their move for the young French forward.

Villa continues to be linked with a new challenge in the summer, this time Barcelona, but Valencia remain coy on the striker's transfer status and have refused to divulge whether they will accept any bids for him.

The Real Madrid president has now stated that he could not wait any longer for Villa as Benzema's signing had to be completed "by June 30" or the whole deal would collapse.

"Valencia had declared [Villa] as untransferable and there is nothing we could do," he told Cuatro.

However, Perez refuses to rule out the prospect of having Villa at the Santiago Bernabeu in the future.

The Madrid supremo added, "In football you can never say that something is closed, we do not know what will happen in the future, but for now Valencia have said they do not want to sell him, and thus we decided to sign Benzema, another great player."

Perez stressed that Real are still in the transfer market amid reported interest in the likes of Franck Ribery and Xabi Alonso, saying, "I think that with two more signings we will have renewed the squad."

Quizzed on the Liverpool midfielder, Perez said that he is "a great player", and that, from next week "until August" there is time for the negotiations.

With regards to Bayern Munich's star, the returning president appears to be resigned to losing out on the opportunity to land the Frenchman.

"That is the reality right now," he concluded after being asked about Bayern's decision not to sell the player.

Luis Mira, Goal.com