Ramos case: time is running out

95 days left. It is the time that remains until Ramos has the freedom letter under his arm and can leave at zero cost to any team after 16 seasons at Real Madrid. It is also the time that remains for Madrid and the captain to finally agree on the renewal of the last myth of the club that remains in the squad after the abrupt departures of Raúl, Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo. Worse still, there are only 74 days left from today until the start of the Eurocup (June 11), the deadline that Ramos has set to have his future resolved, since he still has hopes that, after the tournament of nations, he can face the Olympic Games.

Time continues to run without Real Madrid having been able to solve one of the main hot potatoes on the table. The last difficult events experienced by both parties, the COVID that the president went through and the captain's meniscus operation, served for a small approach, but not for there to be an understanding between club and player. Madrid is still castled: he does not want to give Ramos more than one year, keeping him the salary he receives now (but subtracting a 20% salary reduction from him, that it intends to make effective for the rest of the workforce). And the player, in the same way, remains firm in his idea that he deserves at least two years of contract, or to be signing one at a time, but maintaining the current salary without any salary reduction.

Ramos has even proposed to Real Madrid a kind of Piqué formula (the one that Barça has followed with their captain). Collect his salary in installments, in several years, to give time for Real Madrid to see its ordinary income level recovered with the return of the public to the stadiums. The club, for its part, is looking at other alternatives, fundamentally that of Alaba, which would arrive at zero cost (with a significant transfer bonus, yes), and charging at least 20 million euros net. They are eight more than what Ramos now charges, but the camero is 34 years old and the Austrian six less and much more traveled ahead.

Ramos is very clear, however, that he has a long career ahead of him. And if he has shown one thing throughout his long and successful career, it is his tenacity. “Despite my age, which is now 35, Santiago Bernabéu said that there are no young or old players; there are good and bad. I can perform three, four or five more years, if my body supports me and the injuries respect me, I can to be at the highest level, I work hard for it and my mentality will always be there “, Ramos explained when analyzing what he would like his legacy to be in the world of football in the press conference he recently gave in Amazone. A dart to the presidency of Madrid …

For its part, the club relies on the idea that Ramos has no other interesting offer on the table. It is difficult for a club to want to sign, even at zero cost, a 35-year-old player (he will have them when his contract with Madrid ends, in fact, he fulfills them on March 30). On the other hand, in the white entity they account for what will be the scenario in the renewal of the staff that must be undertaken with the signing of important names like those of Haaland, Mbappé or Camavinga.

Ramos takes an important part of the salary mass of the first team (the total of the club is 448 million euros), but the problem is in other players such as Bale or Hazard (70 million euros gross between the two). However, if Ramos leaves and Alaba comes, the problem would be aggravated, since the Austrian's salary would be even greater.

The past separates them.

Both Ramos and Florentino strive to give the public the impression that the relationship between them is very cordial, but there are events in the recent past that separate them. There are basically three. The first happened in 2015, when Sergio Ramos forced to renew upward with an offer from United just when the other captain, Casillas, had left Madrid in a traumatic way. The second, when both met in the locker room after the elimination in the Champions League against Ajax, two seasons ago. The third, when Ramos asked to go to China with the freedom letter. The president did not let him, and also left the defense in evidence when he said publicly that he was the highest earner of the white squad.

In perspective, it could be safely said that Ramos has been the most profitable signing that Florentino Pérez has made in his 18 years (2000-06, 2009-2021) as president of Real Madrid. Twenty-seven million euros cost the one who is already the player with the most games in the National Team (179) and fifth in Real Madrid (he has 670, Raúl reached 741). And yet, there are only 95 days left for the great captain to be free …