MADRID — Real Madrid's out-of-favour midfielder Guti says he wants to leave the Spanish giants and would welcome a move to Inter Milan "with open arms."
"It is true that I have experienced a very beautiful stage at Real Madrid, that Madrid is a city where I have wanted to live my entire life, but now I want to leave," he said in the interview with Canal+ television which will air on January 28.
"It is a contradiction but I want to leave Madrid, to be in another country, in another city, to enjoy other things," according to excerpts published Friday in sports daily AS.
Guti, 33, a product of Real's youth system and one of the longest-serving members of the squad, has been linked to a move to Bolton Wanderers and Inter Milan but in his interview he showed a preference for the Italian side.
"I would go to Inter with open arms. It is a great club. I have great friends there like Samuel Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder. I think it is a team which can aspire to everything. It is one of my best options, if it can become reality," he said.
Guti came on as a late substitute during Real's 2-0 win at home over Mallorca.
He had not played since the club's embarrassing 4-0 Spanish Cup defeat against third division side Alcorcon on October 27 when he reportedly insulted Real coach Manuel Pellegrini when he was substituted at half-time.
The player, whose full name Jose Maria Gutierrez, also made an obscene gesture to Alcorcon fans at the start of the second half when sitting on the Real bench after someone launched an insult directed at him.
Guti has been frequently late for morning training sessions this week and appeared annoyed on Wednesday when a journalist asked him about the length of time which it has taken for him to recover from several injuries.
Source: AFP