Last week, acclaimed Spanish defender Sergio Ramos was reportedly on the verge of making a jump into the Chinese Super League. Ramos had reportedly clashed with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, which caused the former World Cup winner to consider moving away from the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, Real manager Zinedine Zidane reportedly intervened and talked Ramos into staying put. Zidane reportedly quelled the tension between Ramos and Perez and eventually convinced Ramos to stay with the Spanish giants for at least another season.
As recently as a week ago, most online football betting sites listed Ramos’ odds of leaving the club as more favorable than his odds of staying. Now, though, he is almost a lock to stay at the Bernabeau for at least one more year.
Last Thursday, Ramos held a press conference at which he put an end to any and all rumors surrounding his potential departure. It was reported last week that Ramos wanted to leave the club, which wound up infuriating the player. Ramos was worried that the report would cause Real Madrid fans to think that he was just bluffing in an attempt to get a salary raise. As a result, Ramos feared that he was beyond the point of no return and that leaving the club would be the only remaining possibility.
Perez had said earlier in the week that Ramos’ brother, Rene, who is also the player’s agent, approached the brass at Real Madrid in order to inform them that they had received an offer from an unnamed club in China. Sergio Ramos subsequently denied the claim.
Zidane reportedly told Perez that Ramos is in his long-term plans at the club, and the team’s president ultimately decided to urge Ramos to stay. Ramos reportedly received an offer from another top European club, and he used the offers to find out whether Real Madrid would let him leave at a reasonable price. Madrid sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus for over €110 million just last summer.
Ramos has an incredible €800 million buyout clause in his contract, but if a buyer were to make a serious offer Madrid would certainly settle for far less. Ramos claimed that he and Perez had a “father and son” kind of relationship during his press conference, but ESPN FC later reported that the two reportedly have long-standing tension.
The Chinese Super League is far from the most competitive league in the world, but more and more high-profile players have decided to make the move in recent years. Chinese clubs have been offering tons of money to try and attract the world’s best players to the Far East. John Obi Mikel, Hulk, Oscar, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Paulinho and Yannick Carrasco are just a handful of the big names that have moved to China in recent years.
Ramos and Real Madrid finished third in La Liga this past season in what was largely a disappointing and disastrous campaign. Los Blancos accrued just 68 points, which was 19 fewer than champions Barcelona and 8 points less than runners-up Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid also had their streak of 3 consecutive Champions League titles come to an end when they were ousted 5-3 on aggregate at the hands of an upstart Ajax side in the round of 16.
Ramos has scored 59 goals in 419 appearances with the club. The 33-year-old joined Real Madrid back in 2005 after rising the ranks at Sevilla.
