Real at "war" with each other: media
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-03-08 09:14

"Real Madrid cannot say it went off to look for him -- but that doesn't mean he doesn't interest us," Martin said unambiguously.

Martin added that a decision would be taken "in two weeks" regarding who will coach the club next season. Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, who replaced Wanderley Luxemburgo three months ago, is set to step back into the shadows having come from managing the reserve side.

"On June 30 I will have 99 percent of the staff (for next season) settled - and the coach, in two weeks," said Martin, although some media reports said Lopez Caro might be ousted if Arsenal dump the meringues out of Europe.

Rumours say Juventus coach Fabio Capello, formerly a Spanish league title winner with Real, is the top choice for the job. Wenger, former Deportivo La Coruna coach Javier Irureta and Liverpool's Rafa Benitez are also all in the frame.

Meanwhile, former chairman Perez said he would not change a thing if he were to have his time again.

"I'd do it all again. I believe in emotions and spectacle, and without this magic it wouldn't be Madrid. Thanks to this philosophy I left the club the richest in the world," Perez said in an interview with Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport.

He added he stepped down to reduce demands on his time from being chairman and chief of a construction firm.

"But above all I realised the club needed a new impulse," he said, saying stepping down was an act of "loyalty and responsibility."