Sergio Ramos more likely to leave than stay

SPECIAL REPORT: The 29-year-old defender is
determined to depart as he feels the club have
gone back on previous promises over a new
contract at the Santiago Bernabeu side
By Alberto Pinero & Ben Hayward
When Sergio Ramos rose to head home a late
leveller in added time against Atletico and rescued
Real Madrid's Decima dream in May last year, he
carved his name into club folklore. But just 13
months on, he now seems set for a dramatic
departure.
With Xabi Alonso and Angel Di Maria sold last
summer, Alvaro Morata moved on and coach Carlo
Ancelotti sacked recently, the team that won the
10th European Cup for Real continues to be
broken up. Club captain Iker Casillas is also on the
verge of an emotional exit, but Ramos was a
player expected to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu
for many years to come.
Not now. Within the space of just a few days,
Madrid have gone from negotiating a new contract
for the Spain centre-back to discussing the terms
of his departure. As things stand, Ramos is closer
to the exit door than to a fresh deal at the club he
joined as a talented 19-year-old for €27 million in
2005.
Despite the rapid change in developments, the
defender's discontent has been brewing for some
time with only two contract renewals in his 10
years at the club - Ramos last improved terms
back in 2011. He currently earns around €5.5m
after tax, a figure that places him in only the fifth-
highest wage bracket at the Bernabeu.
Cristiano Ronaldo (€17m per year), Gareth Bale
(€11m), Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez
(€7m) and Iker Casillas and Toni Kroos (€6m) all
earn more and even though president Florentino
Perez promised to pay Ramos "whatever he
deserves" after Madrid won La Decima, the Madrid
chief has not delivered on his promise.
Talks have hit a stalemate, with no developments
since January.
Ramos was convinced negotiations
would resume as normal at the end of last season,
but the club failed to up their offer of €7m-per-
year after tax in fresh talks, with Ramos believing
he should be paid closer to €10m annually.
After all, the defender sealed La Decima for Madrid
and also starred in the Club World Cup win last
December, when he was named as the best player
in that competition. He has also put his body on
the line for Real, playing through injury in Morocco
and again in the Champions League semi-finals
against Juventus in May.
Publicly, the Perez-Ramos relationship has always
appeared healthy, yet the president has a dislike
for players with what he perceives to be "too much
power" in the dressing room. Raul, Fernando
Hierro and Luis Figo, all influential voices off the
pitch, ended up leaving the club under a cloud
following a breakdown in relations with Florentino.
Cristiano Ronaldo is an exception in that respect
because Perez knows he cannot afford to part with
the club's prized player at this point.
Ramos, however, is almost as important as
Ronaldo. An organiser on the pitch, Madrid's back
line looks lost without him - as was all too
apparent in the 4-0 loss at Atletico back in
February. The Seville-born defender adds the
authority and guidance needed in any top team
and without him, Real lack leadership.
Ramos spoke out in support of Ancelotti prior to
the Italian's sacking and was also against former
coach Jose Mourinho when Perez continued to
back the Portuguese. Those things did not go
down well with the club chief and there is a real
reluctance on the president's part to offer the
player any more money now.
There was also the issue of how Ramos' name was
linked with Barca presidential candidate Jordi
Majo. Majo claimed he had been offered Ramos by
an intermediary to headline his bid to seize power
at Camp Nou.
Ramos' agent denied any involvement, leading to
speculation as to who put Ramos' name
forward. Tellingly, there was no denial from Real.
Manchester United, once described by Ramos as
"the Real Madrid of the Premier League", are
apparently ready to offer the player the money he
believes he deserves and what started out as a
Plan B for the defender is now much more than
that. It is a very real possibility for the coming
campaign and several more after that as the player
seeks the last bumper contract of an impressive
career.
Hs first choice was always to stay at the Bernabeu.
But with Real unwilling to meet the defender's
demands, he will go ahead and seek a transfer this
summer. So unless the club backs down and
coughs up the cash (which seems unlikely at this
stage), Madrid will soon start life without another
of the pillars in their ever-changing team. It all
seems so avoidable.