Rafa Benitez says he is “delighted” with Real Madrid goalkeepers following David de Gea's decision to commit to Manchester United.
Speaking ahead of Los Blancos' trip to Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday, the Coach explained how he managed to get Keylor Navas back on side, before touching on injuries to Danilo and James Rodriguez and the booing directed at Gerard Pique for Spain.
“[David] de Gea is a Manchester United player and I've showed my goalkeepers appreciation,” he said at a Press conference.
“Keylor knows how much I appreciate him, and that's the most important thing.
“I can't guarantee that De Gea will ever play with us, but I'm delighted with our goalkeepers.
“I have nothing to say [about De Gea's new contract]. Keylor knows how I feel about him, and so does his wife and agent.
“I have complete confidence in him and he knows it. I hope he plays well and that I intervene as little as possible.
“Keylor trained yesterday and made four sensational saves. He's as good as he was before. All I had to do was talk to him. I'm happy and so is he.
“[On injuries to Danilo and James Rodriguez], we know the problems that international breaks sometimes pose us.
“We'll have to raise our performance levels so we won't feel their absences.
“As for the cause of the injury to Danilo, you can say that when he left he wasn't injured, neither was James.
“Now we have two injured. We must do everything in our power to take control of our squad.
“Sometimes we are, sometimes we're not, sometimes you have bad luck. We'll try to find a solution for the future.
“The risks of international breaks are always there. There are many matches and we've always discussed them at coaching meetings.
“Losing a player like [James] is a big problem, but we have good-enough players to replace him.
“My job is to get the best out of my team and get the best possible performance from my players.
“[On Gerard Pique], it's clear that football must serve to unite everyone, but I'm only focusing on our upcoming game.
“I want Madrid to win every game and won't enter any other debates. My only responsibility is that the team do well.
“[On FIFA compensating Madrid], that's good of them but it should indemnify how much a player is worth.
“I'm lucky in that I've had a very good relationship with all the club's departments. We've had some very bad luck with the injuries, but I'm delighted with all our employees. They are great professionals.
“We're approaching the game [against Espanyol] with enthusiasm, desire, respect and confidence. We've all trained very well.”
