At the weekend we covered a rather big claim from Portugal that Newcastle United want Iker Casillas. At that point it hadn’t spread, but within hours Casillas to Newcastle was everywhere.
It was hard to take the claim seriously, and we joked that perhaps someone had read the Casilla rumour wrong and got a little carried away. But Casillas to Newcastle United isn’t going away.
Indeed, after Jornal de Noticias launched the story, now Spanish newspaper AS have backed it up. Running a Casillas to Newcastle article in their Tuesday edition, AS present it was their own information, and make no mention of the Portuguese claims.
Casillas’ situation at Porto is highlighted, with the keeper dropped in favour of Jose Sa. Reasons given at the time related to a lack of effort from Casillas in training but it feels 
very much like Porto are trying to force the Spaniard and his high wages out.
On that note, Casillas is said to have ‘made a decision’ and ‘his intention is to leave the club in January’.
Then Newcastle United are brought in, with AS claiming Benitez would be ‘delighted’ to secure the signing.
Rafael Benitez was arriving at Real Madrid as Casillas was completing his protracted exit, and there’s no suggestion of anything but good feelings between the two.
