In June, Mirror reported that Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo signed his image rights on a huge contract with Mint Media, owned by Singaporean tycoon Peter Lim. Lim owns Spanish football club Valencia. Santos Marquez, Iker Casillas's agent, thinks this signals the star's departure from Madrid.

"One day [Madrid President Florentino Perez] will need to explain why Cristiano works for another company outside of Real Madrid," the agent told AS.

Old Trafford Taking Advantage

Since the transfer window opened, Manchester United has been looking for a crack to open an opportunity to sign Ronaldo. Metro stated that the possibility that Ronaldo is leaving Madrid gave the Red Devils a much-needed boost in their pursuit of the Portuguese star.

CR7 is reportedly worth £66.5 million, the amount United would have to offer to at least make a reasonable deal with the star, said Metro.

'If not Cristiano, It's Perez'

Marquez said if Ronaldo was not the one who is leaving it would have to be Perez.

"Will anyone speak out and ask Florentino why Cristiano has sold his image rights to Peter Lim? That's not normal; it suggests that Cristiano is planning to leave," said Marquez.

Marquez hit out at Perez for allowing another Spanish club to earn money off of their star player. "Imagine Cristiano generating 40 million euros elsewhere and giving it to Peter Lim, Valencia's owner. It ends up in Valencia's coffers and that's deplorable," Marquez told AS.  

The agent also continued that Perez's possibility of leaving was opened wide by the release of Madrid and Spain legend Iker Casillas from playing in the Bernabeu. "Florentino will eventually have to leave Madrid as a result of the Casillas saga. I don't know when that will happen but it will," said Marquez.

'A Legend Ignored'

On July 12, Casillas held a press conference on his own at the Bernabeu where he said his final farewell to the club he has been with for 25 years. Casillas announced his decision to join Porto. Being a legendary Madrid player, everyone was expecting a grand farewell - but even during the press conference, the club's president Perez was nowhere to be found.

Goal reported that the president resorted to a "hastily arranged send-off ceremony the following day" where Perez also said publicly that it was Casillas' decision to leave the Los Blancos.

However, Casilas agent stands firm in saying that Perez is "spinning a web of lies." Marquez was quoted as saying: "Iker never wanted to leave."

"He said that he never wanted to leave and that he could never ask to be Madrid's first choice goalkeeper," Marquez revealed to AS. He added that Iker had two years left with the Los Blancos and that he would have preferred to end his playing career at Madrid.

"He was happy and Madrid is his home but they didn't want him," Marquez added.