Soccer News

Real Madrid’s latest signing Esteban Granero has done the unthinkable, which none of his teammates wouldn’t have considering the Los Merengues big spending, by taking a pay cut to rejoin his boyhood club.

The 22-year-old midfielder trained alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema for the first time Friday after accepting a drop in salary to rejoin his boyhood club after two seasons at Getafe.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kaka have cost Madrid nearly £200 million in transfer fees this offseason, but Granero has admitted that he had made up his mind even before the offer was even placed.

“I was going to accept the deal they offered me before it even landed on the table,” said Granero, who lost out on a reported £800,000.

“Sometimes it’s a rodeo to get to Real Madrid and, in my case, it meant going through Getafe, which worked out.”

Granero, who joined Madrid’s youth system at age 8, is the 10th midfielder at the club and has led to it declaring that it won’t sign anyone else until it sells several players.

One such player is Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who returned to training after turning down a move to Bundesliga side Stuttgart on Thursday.

“It’s true that I feel a great sense of responsibility,” Granero said.

“To be a part of this squad is hard and you have to earn your place. You have to shed your skin with every training because you always have to be conscious and respectful of the white shirt.”

Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery have both been linked with Madrid, but Granero would still welcome them to the club.

“It’s clear it’ll be even harder to play, but you have to aspire in difficult moments and I’ve decided to take a step forward in my career,” Granero said.