Football Talk - Real Madrid target Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka - 04/06/09
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has confirmed that he will 'work to bring Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo' to the Bernabeu.
The Spanish outfit are currently in negotiations to lure Kaka from Milan, but Perez's admission about Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to anger Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Speculation has suggested a deal could already be in place to take Ronaldo to the Spanish capital, but Perez concedes he knows nothing of any such arrangement.
"Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the best players in the world," Perez told Atena 3. "I'm going to work to bring Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. I've been here a few days and neither (former president, Vicente) Boluda nor anyone else has talked to me about this supposed agreement. What would be very good is to see these great players at Real Madrid this season. Cristiano would be one of these."
On Tuesday it looked as though Chelsea were ready to hijack Real's bid for Kaka but the Premier League club issued a statement denying reports they had made a £73.3million offer to Milan.
"This statement is an advantage," he added. "If Chelsea are not competing with us it is good news. The problem wouldn't be the presentation of Kaka, the problem would be if we are capable of fixing it so he plays for Real Madrid. We have good relations with Milan. I'm a friend of (general manager, Adriano) Galliani which will make this agreement easier. Moreover, the player has shown his desire to play for us."
Perez has also admitted to being an admirer of David Villa and Diego Forlan. "It is a difficult question because I like those two of a lot too. They are both great players," he added. "I cannot speak about signing them, but any president would like to see both of them playing in his team."
Veteran Real pair Raul and Guti were also mentioned and Perez was unable to give assurances that the pair still had a future at Madrid.
"In Spain you can only have a 25-man squad. At the moment we have 28 players and we want to bring in five or six so I think that we will have to let around nine go," he continued. "Is Raul on this list? Raul is undisputable, a symbol. It would be difficult to see him go. Guti is loved by the fans and he deserves that affection and the respect of everyone."
