Speculation about Raúl’s influence in the boardroom continues to grow as the certain sections of the press now theorized that the captain may have been the reason why the club failed to sign any new strikers.
Just a week ago, Sport published a report that suggested a certain group of Real Madrid fans believed under-fire club icon Raúl may have prevented the team from recruiting their big name targets during the summer transfer window.
Now, the Catalan-based daily are theorizing that El Capitan may have been the one to veto coach Bernd Schuster’s requests for a top class striker and, in particular, the signing of Valencia’s David Villa, to ensure that his place in the first team is not threatened.
Iker Casillas, another of the squad’s elder statesmen, had allegedly approved the arrival of the Los Ché hitman but his endorsement was overwritten by Raúl’s final say. It is speculated that the goalkeeper and vice-captain was not too happy with that decision and there may now be friction between the pair.
It is also rumoured that the Bernabéu icon was the one who convinced president, Ramón Calderón to slowly disband the Br azilian contingent in the squad due to the bad influence they were having on the team on and off the field.
Cicinho, Roberto Carlos, Julio Baptista and ofcourse Robinho have all departed the Spanish capital in recent past, although none have yet to come out and drop even the slightest of hints that it was indeed Raúl’s doing.
Ironically, Sport also published a separate finding that football kiosks in urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttag " />Albacete near the Estadio Carlos Belmonte – the venue where Spain played at in their midweek World Cup qualifier against Armenia – sold more Raúl jerseys than any other player’s. Casillas and Fernando Torres were a close second.