"Ozil thought he had a lot of competition for places and asked to leave"

Posted Saturday, September 14, 2013 by Marca.com

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti wanted to clarify the reasons for the departures of Kaká, and especially Mesut Özil, at an earlier press conference: "I've heard a lot of people talk about the departure of Özil and now it's my turn to talk. Nobody leaves Madrid if they don't want to leave. Özil thought he had a lot of competition for places and asked to leave. It doesn't happen to everyone. The coaching staff's decision was to let Özil leave. We received a good bid and everyone was satisfied. We wish him all the best".

In relation to Kaká, the Italian said: "The player asked to leave. He wasn't comfortable and needed more time. I think he found a good solution, as he knows the club and the set-up well".

Ancelotti then leapt to the defence of striker Karim Benzema: "So far, Karim has performed well. He scored two goals in the first two games and set up two against Athletic. There is competition for places in his position, just like all the others. Morata played well recently for his country. It's a good thing for Karim that Jesé and Morata are pushing for places. I'm very happy with him. He´s a different case to that of Di María or Modric, because his physical conditions are very different", the Italian concluded.