Iker Casillas' departure indicates that Real Madrid may be losing connection with their roots

Casillas is unceremoniously shown the door after serving 25 years at his beloved Real Madrid

Rarely, if ever, in football do players maintain an association with a club that is a quarter of a century in length – even rarer are the cases where said players rise not only to the top of the club, but to the top of the country, to the top of the sport, to the top of the entire world. And when they do, they are invincible.

Elisha Scott came close – 24 years at Liverpool between 1912 and 1936. Paolo Maldini actually managed it at A.C.Milan (1984-2009) – while playing on the ‘wrong’ side of defence. And now, another one of those legendary associations has been terminated at its silver jubilee.

Iker Casillas’ time at Real Madrid finally comes to an end 25 years after joining the youth team in 1990. Yet, the overwhelming feeling at this news is not merely of awe at a glittering trophy-laden career, or of respect and admiration for having risen to the top of his position at his peak, or even of unavoidable sadness at the departure of the last stalwart, the proud Madridista undercurrent tying the souls who make the weekend trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to the grand, stately institution that is Real Madrid.

It is the solemn realisation that he may, in fact, be the last of his kind, especially in light of a profligate, grotesque and unhealthily intoxicating operation policy in the transfer market.

Bodo Illgner kept goal for Real Madrid in the 1998 Champions League Final in Amsterdam, an iconic moment in the history of the club, bringing ‘The Big Ears’ back to the Santiago Bernabeu after a full thirty-two years, contrasted by the irony of Predrag Mijatovic scoring the crucial goal to down Juventus.

The birth of the ‘Galacticos’

He did not last long, however, with Casillas displacing him from between the sticks by the time the 2000 Champions League Final rolled around. Real Madrid only finished fifth in the league that season, but claimed La Octava with a 3-0 win over Valencia. A few weeks after that, Florentino Perez was elected as president and the seeds for the Galactico era were officially sown.

Perez had burning ambitions for Real Madrid: he wanted his team to be the best in the world, to play the best football and to field the best and most famous players on the face of the earth. Most importantly, he wanted the whole world to know about it.

Perez enacted his transfer plans every summer in earnest, fuelled by a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline, ambition and money. The press were only too happy to indulge his bloodlust, and, unbelievably, the reputation of a fully equipped Galacticos team was significantly greater than the team itself.

Luis Figo arrived in the summer of 2000, with Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham and Michael Owen completing the set by 2004. These indulgent transfer splurges worried some supporters, who felt that these ‘star’ signings might mean the end of any local Madrid boys in the team, a sign that the club was fast forgetting its roots.

Perez responded by initiating the ill-fated Zidanes y Pavones policy (in an attempt to appease the fans), named after Zidane and the Madrid-born defender Francisco Pavon. The idea was that every big signing would be accompanied by the promotion of youth team player to the senior squad.

It is highly tempting to suggest that the main reason Iker Casillas kept his place in the team was because of this policy. However, that would be extremely unfair to him; Casillas certainly kept his place on merit.

Actually, scratch that. He kept his place because he was the best goalkeeper in the world.

One of the best in the world

Comparisons between prominent sportspersons of a generation are inevitable and Casillas certainly had to face his fair share with Gianluigi Buffon. Although the Italian has certainly adapted to his advancing years more favourably than the Spaniard, at Casillas’ peak, there was little to choose between the two goalkeepers.

Casillas really took off at 21, producing several heroic displays for both club and country over a number of years. His sharp reflexes and penalty saving abilities were critical components of two league titles and two Champions League titles in that time as well as helping Spain reach the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup.

But that’s when some troubles arose. The expensively assembled Galacticos did not justify their reputation in the post-2003 period, and continued underperformance in the Champions League meant Perez’s dream of capturing La Decima remained unfulfilled.

He resigned in mid 2006, and although Real Madrid claimed a couple of league titles after him, there was a sense that the Galacticos had not done nearly enough, and with Barcelona shifting into overdrive, first led by Ronaldinho and then Lionel Messi, Real Madrid’s reactive spending became even more haphazard. Casillas did his job loyally over all these years and he was often the only constant in an erratic defence that did not inspire much confidence in the rest of the team.

The beginning of the end for Casillas

Perez eventually returned, and immediately initiated an even more extravagant transfer policy, with players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso arriving at the club. Yet, it is a testament to the otherworldly nature of Barcelona during that time that even a Real Madrid at full throttle were unable to stop them.

In this frustrating period, one particular low really sticks out for Casillas: a 4-0 defeat at Anfield in the 2009 Champions League. Things did not get particularly better for him, as Jose Mourinho arrived at Real Madrid at the end of the following season and, in retrospect, this was the beginning of the end.

It is not a coincidence that club legend Raul also left that year, symbolic of the eradication of the local spearheads, and Casillas’ relationship with the club and Mourinho in particular reaching the point of no return.

These were followed by some extremely unsavoury allegations of discontent and trouble making levelled against Casillas, which turned a section of the fan-base against him. Criticism became more frequent and his place in the side wasn’t as certain anymore.

The 2014 season saw captain Casillas do a Copa del Rey and Champions League double, breaking records in the process. But the following season finished on a frustrating note as Real Madrid ended up second best to Barcelona again.

Raul’s departure in 2010 removed one of two key Madrid boys from the club, and now Casillas goes, bearing medals the weight of which his neck cannot bear, with records galore and a host of memories, the last of the locals. But the sour, despondent way all of it wound down and eventually ended is probably one of his regrets.

Real Madrid’s excessive spending in the transfer market almost eliminates any room for more such lads, and despite losing connection with their roots, it appears unlikely that Perez will choose to promote a local youngster to fill a space in the squad this time round when the answer is just a signature away.

And that’s how it ends. Quite disappointingly.