Real Madrid confirm AC Milan friendly and refuse to deny Santiago Bernabeu will be renamed

Posted Tuesday, September 30, 2014 by Goal.com

Director Emilio Butragueno confirmed a December friendly in Dubai and was hesitant over the future name of the stadium

Real Madrid will play AC Milan in a prestigious friendly in Dubai on December 30, Blancos director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno has confirmed.

Butragueno was in Dubai on Monday together with Milan legend Franco Baresi to announce and promote the friendly, which will be played at the Dubai Sevens Stadium.

But the former Madrid striker was caught off guard when asked to confirm whether Real Madrid are negotiating a deal with IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company) to rename their stadium from Santiago Bernabeu to Abu Dhabi Santiago Bernabeu.

A hesitant Butragueno said: "We are here to talk about this game and I think we should focus on that. This is our first game here in Dubai, a great opportunity. That [IPIC - Real Madrid] is a different matter."

Madrid president Florentino Perez unveiled plans for the €400 million renovation of the club's famous home last year and the construction magnate claimed much of the development would be paid for by the sale of naming rights for the ground.

Perez said he was in talks with 10 different companies over the naming rights and it was strongly suggested in the Spanish press this year that IPIC would pay between €450 and €500m over 20 years for the stadium to be known officially as the Abu Dhabi Santiago Bernabeu.

IPIC is an Abu Dhabi-based company owned by the Abu Dhabi government, which itself recently made one of its banks, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), Real Madrid's official banking partner.