Antonio Cassano, who played for Real Madrid from 2006 until 2008, spoke about his time with the club and highlighted the influence of president Florentino Perez.
The 38-year-old had a chat with former Italian international colleague Christian Vieri about his experience.
"I was at Real Madrid and it is something different from the rest of the world," Cassano said on Vieri's podcast.
"At this moment Florentino Perez is the Pope, the King and the Cardinal.
"If he decides to offer you one [year contract] and you have an agreement with another team that offers you three, he will decide if you stay.
"Look, [Luka] Modric was going to leave, he stayed and won the Ballon d'Or. [Fabio] Cannavaro, the same.
"That year he had played well with Juventus but they could have given it to [Gigi] Buffon or [Zinedine] Zidane if it wasn't for the World Cup headbutt," Cassano said, highlighting Perez's influence.
"Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a joke about the Ballon d'Or a couple of years ago and said that Florentino always won it," Cassano added.
Ibrahimovic did indeed make such a claim in 2018.
"Messi was competing for the Ballon d'Or with Florentino Perez, not Cristiano [Ronaldo]," the Swede then stated.
realEddy
512
very true indeed..if Perez has good plans for you then you are most lucky because you will definitely achieve greatness..he is a very strict dealer, a future economist, a wealthy billionaire but also a father at heart. the way he visits players during training and engage in crucial talks with them in the dressing room is just great..he is everything Madrid could have hoped for as a president and because of him Madrid will hopefully remain at the top in Spain for centuries to come
igw10550
471
The GOAT of Club President. Master of the Game.