Valdano: Real Madrid Don’t Need David Villa Now That We Have Benzema

Real Madrid dropped out of the chase to sign David Villa a few weeks ago after Valencia decided that they would not put their star striker up for sale.

Los Blancos quickly turned their attention to Karim Benzema and now that they have reached an agreement with Lyon for the young Frenchman, Jorge Valdano has reiterated that ‘El Guaje’ is no longer a target for them, even though the club's administration is still hoping to inject more Spanish flavour into the team.  

“We aspire to have more Spanish players arrive in the team,” he told reporters during Raul Albiol’s presentation ceremony.

“We hope that we will be able to sign them with ease, just like we did with Albiol, and not confront any obstacles that will hinder our objective.”

When asked if Villa will be part of that Spanish contingent, he replied, “Villa has now been ruled out.

“Benzema has fulfilled our goal of having a target striker with presence and aggressiveness. They are the same type of players because they both share the same characteristics.”

Valdano then went on to reveal how the club had been able to complete six major signings in such a short period of time, but he also clarified that their transfer plans are not all foolproof.

“Some of the operations began even before Florentino Perez was a [presidential] candidate,” he revealed.

“This means that he had started his work long beforehand and for that reason, we have always been able to proceed with calm.

“But we do not presume that we are invincible. We simply stick to our objectives, which are sometimes realised and other times they are not. We are aware that there’s an expectation on us to fulfil the rest of our promises but not all of them will become a reality this season.

“However, some signing will only take shape towards the end of the pre-season,” he added, before confirming that Ruud van Nistelrooy is not currently in negotiations with Lyon.

Finally, the Argentine chief had to defend the club’s transfer policies amidst the latest round of criticism, this time from UEFA president Michel Platini.

“Madrid are the richest club in the world, among other things, because we sign world-class players and the dynamics of this model has proven to be successful in the past,” he reasoned.

“We are a team that cannot aspire to mediocrity. We have to lead the way and it will not be possible without the best players in the world.”  

KS Leong, Goal.com