Iker Casillas's time as a Real Madrid player is coming to an end

Casillas has made just 14 appearances in all competitions for Madrid this season

Lady luck is shining upon Real Madrid this season but the same can’t be said about one of its best known players who goes by the name Iker Casillas. The 32-year-old has fallen victim to squad rotation and has featured just 14 times for Los Blancos this season. Nobody could have imagined this happening to Casillas who is without doubt one of the finest goalkeepers to ever grace the game.

The beginning of the end started on 22nd December 2012 when Mourinho dropped Casillas in favor of Antonio Adan after the manager had a bitter disagreement with the captain. The 32-year-old expressed his unhappiness to the media which caused a stir within some sections of the fans who labelled him a “topo” which translates into mole. In spite of all the trouble Casillas still won the IFFHS Worlds Best Goalkeeper award which for the fifth consecutive time. Things only got worse when Mourinho re-signed Diego Lopez from Sevilla and made him the undisputed number 1 last year.

Lopez’s brilliance in front of goal didn’t help Casillas’s situation and the skipper just made 29 appearances in all competitions for Los Blancos last season. Casillas had some hope of returning to the first team when Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as Madrid’s new head coach before the start of this season but that hope quickly faded when the Italian adopted his famous rotation policy at Madrid. Fortune has certainly not favored one of Spain’s most loved footballers in recent times.

Real Madrid should consider themselves fortunate that Casillas is still with them. The goalkeepers love for his boyhood club is the only reason he is still with them. Any other player would have certainly left the club without thinking twice. The Spain international still has his best days ahead of him and will continue to play at the highest level for many years but putting him on the bench is as good as condemning him to the gallows. A player with 5 La Liga‘s, 2 Champions Leagues and 1 Copa Del Ray should be on the first team sheet without a second thought but the arrogance that Madrid are famous for continues to persist and keep Casillas in the shadows.

If things continue the way they are going right now then Casillas will certainly leave the Bernabeu for greener pastures. There would be no shortage of takers for the magnificent keeper and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him playing away from his homeland next year. The stopper will almost certainly start in the Copa del Ray finals against Barcelona but after that he will only make bit appearances for Madrid until the World Cup where he is Spain’s unchallenged number 1.

Many clubs will chase the stopper if he chooses to leave but it is anyone’s guess where he might end up playing. The idea of him in the Premier League is a bit far fetched as the clubs who can afford him all have top class keepers. Casillas may choose to ply his trade in France with big spending clubs PSG or Monaco or try out the American way of football in the MLS. Atletico Madrid may try and get him due to the imminent departure of loan star Thibaut Courtois but Real may not want to sell the keeper to one of their main rivals.

Casillas may not be seen in a Real Madrid shirt next season but will surely be in a place where he will be respected and loved. It will truly be an end of an era in Spanish football when one of her favorite sons leaves her shores.