Christian Karembeu moved to Real Madrid from Sampdoria in 1997 after a tug of war with Barcelona. The former midfielder/sweeper, who recalls his time with 'Los Blancos' as a "positive, really enriching" experience, talked about his memories and the latest at the Bernabéu with MARCA.com.

"I was lucky enough to join the club at a very special moment. The fans had been waiting to win the Champions League for many, many years and we managed it. It was a fantastic period for me personally because I also won the World Cup", noted the New Caledonia-born Frenchman, who professes to be extremely proud to have been chosen as a La Liga ambassador despite never winning the Spanish top-flight title. The 44-year-old has no lack of medals at home, though, having triumphed in two Champions Leagues, an Intercontinental Cup, a European Championship, a World Cup and a Confederations Cup during a distinguished playing career.

Asked about the current players in La Liga and his favourites, Karembeu made a somewhat left-field choice after previously mentioning the usual suspects, Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi. "I'm a big fan of Casemiro. He's a midfield powerhouse and I think he'll end up playing an important role for this Real Madrid team", remarked Karembeu, who, after his spell with the 'Merengues', had stints at Middlesbrough, Olympiacos, Servette and Bastia before hanging up his boots in 2006.

Karembeu, who was "very happy" in Madrid, is rooting for his old club to enjoy a successful campaign. "It's true that it's still early days and so you can't read too much into it yet, but they have a great squad and are in the running for every trophy. Rafa Benítez is a great coach, but we can't judge his work until at least another couple of months have gone by. Here's hoping things go well for them and they win some silverware".