Sergio Ramos leaves Real Madrid after 16 years. The Andalusian central defender will not renew his contract with the white club, whose shirt he has defended in 671 games, and this Thursday he will be fired with honors at his second home, in the Ciudad Deportiva de Valdebebas. After a few months of arduous negotiations with Florentino Pérez, the Spanish defender will change his mind. The rope between the president and the hitherto merengue captain has been tightening over the years until the pressure has finally broken it. There is no turning back now. The one in Beds is already part of the past at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Ramos arrived at Madrid in 2005. The club paid the termination clause of 27 million euros to Sevilla and the player signed a very long contract, until 2013. Only two years later, however, then-president Ramón Calderón decided to improve his conditions. wages for their good performance. “You always like to be rewarded for a good job done,” Sergio said. Their relationship remained intact until 2011, when Florentino renewed it for four more years (2017) and raised the card. The first negotiations with the top leader were not easy, but they came to fruition. The first symptoms of deterioration of a marriage that never stood out, precisely because of its robustness, manifested itself.
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The real curves, however, began in 2015. Considered by many fans in the Spanish capital as the hero of La Décima, Ramos did not initially find the recognition he wanted to have at the club. Manchester United also tempted him with a great financial offer that made him doubt. The tug of war with Florentino increased in tone, but the president managed to retain his captain until 2020. The statements of the camero on the day of initiating the agreement were significant: “The circumstances have been long, the result of wear and tear and day to day , but my head and my heart have always been here. ” That same afternoon, in the honor box of the Santiago Bernabéu, the footballer declared his love for Madrid, but his relationship with his “sports father” showed signs of evident wear and tear. “I have never thought of leaving, but I was not comfortable in some ways. This could not go on like this, there were personal and professional problems,” he said.
FLORENTINO and the departure of another legend
The last renovation took place in 2019, when Ramos was 33 years old. It was, surely, the most difficult of all. The relationship between the defender and Florentino worsened and was manifested with a strong discussion after the elimination of the Champions League at the hands of Ajax. There was a moment when the continuity of the Andalusian was completely up in the air. And then a very attractive proposal came from Asia. “Sergio came to see me at my office and told me that he had a very important offer from China, but that they could not pay for a transfer. I told him that this could not be, that our captain could not leave for free. This would have set a precedent. very dangerous, “publicly acknowledged the president, who again got his way and managed to convince René Ramos, brother and agent of ‘4’. He was committed until June 30, 2021 …
… and the contract has not been touched again. Although on more than one occasion Florentino has publicly said that he would like Ramos to retire at Madrid, when trying to reach an agreement it has been impossible for the distanced positions of both parties to come close. The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus and the merengue sports uncertainty have been two factors that, added to the always difficult conversations between the president and the captain, have caused a divorce that as the years went by seemed more inevitable. Final point. Nothing is forever.