The great Diego López debacle

Posted Monday, August 11, 2014 by Marca.com

The Diego Lopez saga is finally over. In a political solution to a footballing issue, the goalkeeper is being shipped off to Milan in a deal that is unsatisfactory on many counts.

Real Madrid know that they are losing a superb goalie and there are mutterings of "what if we're making a mistake?" around the place. The keeper, meanwhile, is leaving the club he loves with his tail between his legs. The only winners are Milan, who are getting a top player free of charge.

To get to the bottom of the issue, we have to put José Mourinho's role under the microscope. Mou dropped Iker Casillas for personal reasons rather than on-the-pitch considerations and Iker's subsequent injury gave him the perfect excuse to sign López.

Ancelotti's arrival cleared the air, but his bizarre solution - choosing a no. 1 for the league and another for the cups - was a cop-out. It was his way of pandering, either to the board or to Casillas himself. However, Iker came out smelling of roses after the Spanish Cup and Champions League triumphs and Florentino latched on to this to turn it into a political problem. How could they dispense with a legend?

As a result, Real have ended up signing a keeper they didn't need. It would have made more sense to keep both López and Casillas and for whoever performed best to get the spot. If one of them had become unhappy, they could have pushed for an exit. Instead, both the president and the coach passed the buck.