Sergio Ramos is likely to end up at either Manchester United, Manchester City, PSG or Sevilla when he leaves Real Madrid as a free agent, say reports.
The 35-year-old’s departure from the Spanish giants after 16 trophy-laden years was announced on Wednesday, sparking intense speculation about what will come next.
Spanish outlet AS believes City are leading the race for the Spaniard, but United could renew a long-standing interest.
PSG have been on the hunt for an experienced defender since Thiago Silva left for Chelsea a year ago, while Ramos’ boyhood club Sevilla would like to bring him back, but are unlikely to meet the defender’s €12 million per year salary demands.
Questions over the Spain great’s future have been occupying the FFT transfer pages for months.
But now his Madrid departure is certain, there seems to be one central question remaining – who will be willing to pay those wages for a player in his mid-30s?
Nobody can doubt Ramos’ star quality; he has won the World Cup and two European Championship titles with Spain and four Champions Leagues for Real, and played a major role in all of them. He is the ultimate man for the big occasion.
However, the centre-back’s game time was limited to 15 league appearances in 2020/21 and he’s only featured once since the start of January due to a string of injury problems.
That was enough for Luis Enrique to controversially leave Ramos – and all his Madrid team-mates – out of his Spain squad for Euro 2020.
The report in AS says the €12m per year salary Ramos will demand is the same figure that the Merengues refused to meet during contract negotiations.
At a time when clubs are facing financial pressure amid the coronavirus pandemic, splashing out that kind of money on a player who turns 36 next season might feel like a bit too much of a luxury for some.
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