Spanish goalkeeper Kiko Casilla spoke to the press today following his move from Leeds United to Elche CF.
After the two years the player spent in England, he now claims to be happy with his return to his home country, and thanked his new club for giving him this opportunity.
“I appreciate Elche’s interest, through Nico Rodríguez, in giving me the opportunity to return to the Spanish League,” Casilla told the local media (via AS).
“I’m excited and happy to come to help the team to achieve their goal. We hope it will be a good year.”
Despite joining Elche on a loan deal, Casilla talked about the Whites as if he had left them permanently, confirming his wish to stay in Spain following the temporary spell.
“Six months ago I had the thought of returning to the Spanish league. I want to thank Leeds, especially Víctor Orta, for all the facilities they gave me to leave. He knows what I can give to this club. It’s a normal and current option until the end of the season, but when it ends, if everything goes well, there would be no problems to continue. My intention is to stay in Spain.”
Casilla joined Leeds United on a free move from Real Madrid in January 2019. Despite quickly taking a place in the team at the time, he ended up losing his spot last summer to Illan Meslier, who was a starter for most of the past season.
The goalkeeper talked about the challenge of leaving the Galacticos for a Championship side, and says he’s ready to play in the second tier again if necessary.
“I’ve done like a reset to mark a point. It will be difficult for me to return to England. Returning to the Spanish league is an interesting challenge that makes me very excited. Although I’ve been in teams like Real Madrid or Espanyol, I’ve had to row from the second division in England with Leeds. Almost nobody accepts that and I did it. The division is one thing and that you like football is another.”
The Spaniard leaves the Elland Road side with 61 goals conceded and 23 clean sheets in 62 appearances.
