SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Real Madrid unveil Asier Illarramendi after striking a $51 million deal with Real Sociedad

Record ID: 645025

  • Title: SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Real Madrid unveil Asier Illarramendi after striking a $51 million deal with Real Sociedad
  • Date: 13th July 2013
  • Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (JULY 13, 2013) (REUTERS) ASIER ILLARRAMENDI WALKING ON STAGE CAMERA OPERATOR ILLARRAMENDI AND REAL MADRID PRESIDENT FLORENTINO PEREZ TAKING A SEAT CAMERA OPERATOR PEREZ WALKING TO PODIUM AND WAVING IN DIRECTION OF FANS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID PRESIDENT FLORENTINO PEREZ SAYING: "Today a fantastic player who has become one of the great hopes of our football has arrived at Real Madrid. We wanted him here, he wanted to be part of this club and finally today a great challenge for him begins." PEREZ ON STAGE MEDIA PEREZ AND ILLARRAMENDI HOLDING NUMBER 24 JERSEY FLANKED BY REAL MADRID OFFICIALS POSING REAL MADRID MEMBERS AND FANS WATCHING ILLARRAMENDI, PEREZ AND ILLARRAMENDI'S FAMILY POSING ILLARRAMENDI BEING GREETED BY HIS FRIENDS ILLARRAMENDI HOLDING JERSEY STANDING NEXT TO PEREZ AND SURROUNDED BY HIS FRIENDS POSING FOR MEDIA FANS CHANTING "ILLARRA- ILLARRA" FROM BLEACHERS ILLARRAMENDI RUNNING ON PITCH WEARING REAL MADRID KIT FANS CHANTING "ILLARRA- ILLARRA" FROM BLEACHERS ILLARRAMENDI TOSSING BALL TO A FAN, WAVING AND RUNNING ILLARRAMENDI KICKING BALL TOWARDS FANS VARIOUS OF ILLARRAMENDI ON PITCH VARIOUS OF ILLARRAMENDI POSING FOR MEDIA ILLARRAMENDI KICKING BALL ILLARRAMENDI DRIBBLING BALL ILLARRAMENDI WALKING TOWARDS A GROUP OF HIS FRIENDS ON THE PITCH ILLARRAMENDI WAVING IN DIRECTION OF FANS ILLARRAMENDI ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS AND CAMERA OPERATOR GETTING IMAGES OF ILLARRAMENDI CAMERA OPERATOR (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ASIER ILLARRAMENDI, REAL MADRID, SAYING: "I spent 12 years at Real Sociedad, I had lovely times there. I had the opportunity to play for this club but leaving everything behind hasn't been simple but I could not let this opportunity pass." JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ASIER ILLARRAMENDI, REAL MADRID, SAYING: "Xavi Alonso is a great player who also came from the junior team at Real Sociedad and he has always been a point of reference for me. Now I have the opportunity to get to know him better and I hope to learn a lot playing with him." PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ASIER ILLARRAMENDI, REAL MADRID, SAYING: "I don't have any similarity (playing style) to anyone and I tell you my intention is to work with humility but with ambition, work hard and we shall see. I will give it all, Ill give everything on the pitch." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ASIER ILLARRAMENDI, REAL MADRID, SAYING: "It doesn't scare me, it's a challenge that attracts me. At the end, a club like Real Madrid, which is the world's best and fights every year for title, clearly it is attractive. It doesn't scare me. We have to confront new challenges in our lives. The truth is, this opportunity has been given to me and I have to take advantage of it. It's clear it's a unique opportunity one can't reject." VARIOUS OF ILLARRAMENDI LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: General,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAC0BX1NRKBIPD9E4Q0ZFFNAWVR
  • Story Text: Real Madrid unveiled Asier Illarramendi on Saturday (July 13) at the Bernabeu Stadium after paying 39 million euros ($50.9 million) to buy the Spain Under-21 midfielder out of his contract with La Liga rivals Real Sociedad on Friday (July 12).
    The decision to buy Illaramendi follows the club's new policy of snapping up promising home-grown talent.
    Madrid's big-spending president, Florentino Perez is known for luring "galacticos" like David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu but Illarramendi's capture follows hard on the heels of the purchase of playmaker Isco from Malaga and the return of fullback Daniel Carvajal from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
    "Today a fantastic player who has become one of the great hopes of our football has arrived at Real Madrid. We wanted him here, he wanted to be part of this club and finally today a great challenge for him begins," said Perez as he presented Illarramendi to fans and the media.
    The trio were in the Spain squad that won the Under-21 Euro championships in Israel last month and Isco and Illarramendi were both named in UEFA's team of the tournament.
    Real sealed the deal for Illarramendi when they deposited the 23-year-old's buyout fee of 32.19 million euros plus value-added tax (VAT) of 6.76 million with Spain's professional league (LFP), Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay told a news conference on Friday.
    The Basque club, who qualified for the Champions League playoffs last season, did not want Illarramendi to leave but Real's move automatically triggered his exit, he added.
    Illarramendi said that after 12 years at Real Sociedad, leaving was a difficult decision but he could not let the opportunity of being part of Real Madrid pass.
    "I spent 12 years at Real Sociedad, I had lovely times there. I had the opportunity to play for this club but leaving everything behind hasn't been simple but I could not let this opportunity pass," he said.
    Illarramendi is seen as a long-term replacement for Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso, another former Sociedad player who will be 32 in November.
    "Xavi Alonso is a great player who also came from the junior team at Real Sociedad and he has always been a point of reference for me. Now I have the opportunity to get to know him better and I hope to learn a lot playing with him," Illarramendi said of his new teammate.
    He will also compete for a place with Germany's Sami Khedira and Croatia's Luka Modric.
    Illarramendi has agreed a six-year contract and has vowed to work hard for his new club.
    "My intention is to work with humility but with ambition, work hard and we shall see. I will give it all, Ill give everything on the pitch," he said, The opportunity to play for Real Madrid after the club had paid such a large amount of money for him was an attractive, rather than intimidating challenge," he added.
    "It doesn't scare me, it's a challenge that attracts me. At the end, a club like Real Madrid, which is the world's best and fights every year for title, clearly it is attractive. It doesn't scare. We have to confront new challenges in our lives. The truth is, this opportunity has been given to me and I have to take advantage of it. It's clear it's a unique opportunity one can't reject," Illarramendi said Real are looking to bounce back from a poor season under former coach Jose Mourinho, who quit and returned to Chelsea after failing to win any major silverware.
    Portuguese Mourinho was replaced by Italian Carlo Ancelotti, whom Real bought out of his contract with French champions Paris St Germain.
    Under construction magnate Perez, Real have spent hundreds of millions of euros on players but have failed to win the 10th European crown they have been chasing since their last continental triumph in 2002.
    They are the world's richest club by income ahead of Spanish rivals Barcelona in second, according to accounting firm Deloitte.
    Illarramendi's move is another reminder that it is increasingly the case that only the two heavyweights can afford the nation's best players and those who do not play for Real or Barca are seeking top wages abroad.
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