Carlo Ancelotti has been discussing comings and goings at Real Madrid, with Angel di Maria demanding too much to stay.
The Argentina international brought a four-year stay at Santiago Bernabeu to an end over the summer when completing a British record £59.7million transfer to Manchester United.
Real were reluctant to part with one of their most creative influences, but refused to bow to his salary requests.
Experienced performers such as Xabi Alonso and Diego Lopez were also moved out, to Bayern Munich and AC Milan respectively, and Ancelotti insists all of the sales sanctioned made sense for the players and club.
He told Cadena COPE: “Di Maria? I was in agreement with the club. There are times when the club needs to say no. You can’t change the policies of the club for one player.
“Di Maria asked for a lot of money and preferred to leave to go find it. The club couldn’t give him the money he wanted. They say that I’m the manager of the club; of course, I coach for the club, not for the players.
“Xabi is different because he asked to leave. He was a little tired and because of the respect we have for him, we let him leave because we had good options with (Toni) Kroos and James (Rodriguez). He didn’t betray us.
“Diego Lopez left to find another great club with less competition. He left because he preferred to leave, no one ever asked for him to leave.”
Source: Sky Sports