AS.com

Esteban Granero is looking forward to another season at Real Madrid but this time around he wants to play more first-team games.

The youngster, who came through the club's academy, spoke to the online magazine 'JotDown' and revealed his love for philosophy, literature and cinema, making him a rare species among footballers.

For Granero, simply being at Real Madrid is a huge success. He declared he has no plans to leave the club, despite the fact that he is not a regular in José Mourinho's first team, and added that he would never ever even consider joining Barcelona, Real Madrid's eternal rival.

He said: "I don't care how well they play, as a Real Madrid fan I would never be able to play for Barcelona. Not for all the money in the world. It would go against my principles."

Granero also thought that it was wrong to say that Barcelona have a stronger belief in their academy players than Barcelona.

"I don't think that Barcelona put more faith in their youth academy than Madrid. The boss believes in those players who deserve their chance. Last year he gave many players their debut. He's a fair coach. Several players from Castilla (Real Madrid's B team) often take part in our training sessions. I would have loved to have had that opportunity back in the day. Of course he believes in the youth players, but at the same time, this is Real Madrid and you can't give responsibility to players who aren't ready yet. You have to look at each player individually, you can't say that youth players should play just for the sake of it."

Granero insisted that no-one in Madrid was ready to move over and let Barcelona take all the glory after their recent run of success, and said the team were always preparing to regain their supremacy over Spanish and European football. "I don't think Madrid fans or the Madridista culture was ever going to change because of Barcelona's success. We are used to being number one, that's where we belong and neither the fans nor the players will ever accept anything different. We put it behind us and fought to return to our place, which we did by returning to conquer last year. Everyone was talking about Barcelona being the best team of all time and wouldn't stop going on about them, but we beat them by nine points. We dominated the league last season, and we beat Barcelona in their own stadium! You have to understand that Madrid is not a club that conforms or accepts things the way they are. This is a rebellious team that wants to return to the place I believe it truly belongs".

The 25-year-old spent two seasons away from Real Madrid between 2007 and 2009 but says he always dreamt of returning to the club and is delighted to still be there.

"For me, Real Madrid signifies success. You couldn't achieve more success at any other club. Would I have been able to have developed more in another team? No chance! At any other side I wouldn't be expected to play at such a high level, I'd have to lower my expectations and my ambitions. Of course I want to get more opportunities, but I want more opportunities with Real Madrid, which is the best place for me. Now that I have the chance to do that, going to another club would be absurd."