Real need to raise offer for Casilla, Espanyol say

MADRID: Real Madrid will need to raise their offer for Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla above 4 million euros ($4.4 million) if they hope to sign him, Espanyol president Joan Collet was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Real are in the market for a keeper after long-term captain Iker Casillas moved to Portuguese side Porto at the weekend, leaving new coach Rafa Benitez with Costa Rica international Keylor Navas and the inexperienced Fernando Pacheco.

The record 10-times European champions have also been linked in the media with Manchester United's Spain keeper David De Gea.

"I told Real Madrid that Kiko is worth more than 4 million," Collet was quoted as saying by local media on the sidelines of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) general assembly.

"We are at 4 million and for the time being we cannot accept it," he added.

Casilla, 28, came through Real's youth academy before moving to Barcelona-based Espanyol in 2007.

He has made one appearance for Spain, in November last year when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 reverse to world champions Germany, but was not included in coach Vicente del Bosque's latest squad.

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