"To the Madrid board, the players are just pieces that can be swapped out anytime for other pieces, no matter how much the player has achieved for the club,"
"No matter how many trophies you've won for the club, or how much you've made for them, or your impact on the team, Madrid will probably never think of you as something indispensable to the club,"
"When I joined them back in 2009, Madrid was in a bit of a slump, especially on the continental stage. In the League, they still managed to compete, but it was Barcelona who dominated the La Liga back then and Madrid could never almost come out on top in any of the El Clásicos that were being played back then,"
"As always, Madrid's strategy was to raid the transfer market and bring in big name players. I joined Madrid. Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Benzema… we all joined Madrid that year as part of the board's strategy to counter the situation,"
