Argentine striker Javier Saviola has been fed up with his situation at Real Madrid and has expressed a desire to leave the club.
Saviola had been expected to exit the club last summer after less than a year in the Spanish capital, but prospective moves to Newcastle and Boca Juniors never materialised.
The 27-year-old has rarely been afforded a run in the Real team since signing from bitter rivals Barcelona in 2007, and now stands well behind Gonzalo Higuaín and new-signing Klass-Jan Huntelaar in the pecking order.
Saviola, whose chances of first-team action further worsened with the arrival of Juande Ramos as head coach in December, then arranged with the board of Los Merengues to sit it out until the January transfer window, prompting strong interest from Portsmouth in recent weeks.
"It's a difficult situation," Saviola told sports daily Marca. "You have to be very strong mentally because as each game goes by without playing you are destroyed a little more psychologically.
"I spoke to Juande (Ramos) to find out where I stood. I told him I needed to play and, if I wasn't in his plans, to notify the management to allow me to go during the January transfer window because this situation is intolerable.
"The club imposed a series of conditions for me to be able to go in January even though they said they still counted on me but it has all been thrown in the air by the resignation of the club president last week.
"Now the board say they do not want to tamper with the team."
Related links:
Team
Personal
Also see:
Saviola had been expected to exit the club last summer after less than a year in the Spanish capital, but prospective moves to Newcastle and Boca Juniors never materialised.
The 27-year-old has rarely been afforded a run in the Real team since signing from bitter rivals Barcelona in 2007, and now stands well behind Gonzalo Higuaín and new-signing Klass-Jan Huntelaar in the pecking order.
Saviola, whose chances of first-team action further worsened with the arrival of Juande Ramos as head coach in December, then arranged with the board of Los Merengues to sit it out until the January transfer window, prompting strong interest from Portsmouth in recent weeks.
"It's a difficult situation," Saviola told sports daily Marca. "You have to be very strong mentally because as each game goes by without playing you are destroyed a little more psychologically.
"I spoke to Juande (Ramos) to find out where I stood. I told him I needed to play and, if I wasn't in his plans, to notify the management to allow me to go during the January transfer window because this situation is intolerable.
"The club imposed a series of conditions for me to be able to go in January even though they said they still counted on me but it has all been thrown in the air by the resignation of the club president last week.
"Now the board say they do not want to tamper with the team."
Please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. You can also subscribe by Email and enjoy our latest posts sent directly to your inbox.
Related links:
Team
Personal
Also see:
