The place to be…
José Mourinho, as I mentioned before, is still at work, going to the Bernabéu each morning to prepare for the 2011-12 season. He won’t be going on vacation until the middle of this week, once his kids have finished their school year. During this time, he’s been negotiating for new players and speaking with those players who possibly won’t have a spot next year.
Meanwhile, his players are on vacation. Pepe is in Menorca, Sami Khedira and Mesut Özil are also in the Baleares, as is Karim Benzema, who is terrifying pedestrians in Ibiza. Iker’s been in Latin America, Sergio Canales was also in Cancun, Raúl Albiol got married in Valencia with Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa in attendance (Xabi was in New York before that and Álvaro in Vigo for Diego López’ wedding). And Fernando Gago and Ángel di María will also be getting married this summer, to Gisela and Jorgelina, respectively (remember when Madrid used to have the married vs. single practice match right before Christmas? At this rate, if they still did that, there won’t be very many players left for the single side…). Meanwhile, Cris baptized his son Cristiano Junior in Portugal, and then traveled to Turkey for a promotional event with girlfriend Irina, where he caused chaos because everyone wanted to see him. He’ll vacation there until the middle of next week.
Speaking of Cris, this is from Marca, and it once again proves that Cristiano Ronaldo is really a nice guy. Jaime Navarro is a 20-year-old central defender that plays in Real Madrid C in the third division. His contract with Madrid ends this summer, and after a chat with Cristiano, he decided that England is the place for him. So, Cristiano introduced him to agent Jonathon Hope, and explained that the way Jaime plays is highly valued in England. And now, Jaime has a tryout with Leyton Orient in League One. You wouldn’t think that Cristiano would be that approachable, but I’m so happy to hear that he is.