Capello

MADRID, SPAIN (Reuters):

Former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has criticised the club for its lack of planning and said they have ended up paying exorbitant fees for new players.

Capello steered Real to their first major trophy in four years when he led them to the league title last season, but he was sacked less than two weeks later, the club saying his side had not been entertaining enough.

"I think we worked a miracle constructing the team we did," the 61-year-old Italian told Spanish sports daily, Marca, in an interview yesterday. "You can't start trying to plan a team in July, but the same thing is happening this year .... I've said it before but you have to start the signings in May. We had everything planned, but they (the club) wouldn't sign.

"We had (Cristian) Chivu for €6 million in April and another €3.5 million for the player .... but they said they didn't want any more players from the Italian league. We could have signed (Alexandre) Pato for €2 million eight months ago, but the club said he was too young and he has ended up going to Milan for €20 million (US$27.11 million). The other strange thing is that they told us there was a maximum of €30 to €35 million available to spend."

Real have spent €120 million on new signings since Capello's departure at the end of June, including €30 million on centre-back Pepe and €36 million on Dutch winger Arjen Robben.