“Yes it hurt when I left Real Madrid, because I didn’t want to leave. It was said that I wanted to earn the same as Cristiano, but that was a lie. How could I expect to earn the same as someone who has won several Ballon d’Or awards? I was very happy, I had won the Champions League, and Ancelotti didn’t want me to leave either, but James had arrived, and I was the one who was likely to leave. I tried to stay until the very last day. I intended to keep training. I played in the first leg of the Super Cup against Atlético Madrid, but they didn’t even call me up for the second leg because they’d already reached an agreement with Manchester United, something I wasn’t aware of, and I had to watch from home as Atlético won the title. My family and I were very happy, but sometimes these things happen, and it happened to me.”