The President of Real Madrid was caught on film joking about making an offer to sign Colombia’s soccer star Radamel Falcao.
During an awards ceremony in the Spanish capital city of Madrid, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was caught on camera asking his goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, to “pass him a napkin,” implying that he would send a secret message to Falcao, who currently plays for Real’s fierce city rivals, Atletico Madrid.
The connotation of the napkin dates back to 2001 when Perez signed French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane in the same manner.
On that occasion during, Perez wrote on a napkin, “Do you want to play for Real Madrid” and discreetly passed it around the table to the then-Juventus player Zidane, who wrote back “Yes.” A few days later the transfer was made official.
Although no secret note was exchanged on this occasion, television cameras did capture Perez asking Casillas for a napkin.
“They have put me here, when I go over there I am going with a napkin and I am going to give it to Falcao,” said Perez. To which a laughing Casillas replied, “Take care, you could be…recorded.”
Speculation has been rife surrounding the future of El Tigre since the beginning of the year. Real Madrid is among a handful of teams continually rumored to be after the 26-year old striker.
A five goal-haul in Falcao’s last match has done nothing to silence the chatter which will be amplified even more by this latest incident.