Real Madrid have announced that Iker Casillas’s 725-game stay with the club has ended. The Spanish club said on their official website that they had agreed a deal with Porto for their 34-year-old captain.
Casillas joined Real’s youth academy in 1990 and has been with the club ever since, winning 17 major honours.
Real saluted him in a lengthy statement, referencing a “goodbye of a million sensations” and hailing him as their best-ever goalkeeper.
“We have agreed the transfer to the Portuguese club for Iker Casillas,” Real said. “For Real Madrid today is a day, before and above all, for an acknowledgment.
“This will not be one of the best goalkeepers at our club. It is the best goalkeeper in the history of Real Madrid and Spanish football. This is therefore a goodbye of a million sensations, full of hopes, dreams, sacrifices and wins. Iker Casillas has made our shield even bigger. He was our captain and has defended our goal for 25 years.”
Casillas was a high-profile casualty of José Mourinho’s reign at Real but returned to the side after the Portuguese left for Chelsea, winning the Champions Leaguefor a third time in 2014. Time has caught up with him in the Spanish capital, though.
“Iker has managed to become one of our main reference points and has earned the respect, admiration and affection of fans beyond colours and feelings,” the Real statement continued.
“Iker is gone but his example remains. His behaviour during the 725 matches played with our shirt shows the way to those who dream of being part of this team.
“Thanks, Iker, for everything. Thanks for being a symbol of the best in our history. You belong forever to the heart of Real Madrid.”
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