The armistice between Sergio Ramos and Florentino Pérez in Guangzhou on 27 July produced a break in conflict surrounding the player’s future and the captain was seen lifting the International Champions Cup in China, a duty he didn’t fulfill in Australia. But the tug-of-war is far from over. This week will be key in deciding whether Ramos and Madrid can come to an agreement on his contract extension which suits both parties or not. The Madrid captain is expected to hold a formal meeting with the club on Thursday or Friday, after this week’s Audi Cup engagement. Ramos will then spend the weekend resting with his family after 20 days on tour with the squad, who today will set off for Munich in the final part of their pre-season preparations.
When Ramos met with Florentino in China, there was no mention of the player’s economic pretensions – the underlying theme of the captain’s discontent with his situation. Also present in the informal meetings in China were José Ángel Sánchez and the defender’s brother and agent, René Ramos. The player is annoyed at the club because he feels that they have mounted a smear campaign in certain sections of the press in an attempt to portray him as a money-obsessed mercenary, with suggestions that his brother is not up to the task of negotiating new terms. Ramos’ displeasure stems from just after the Champions League final in Lisbon, when Florentino gave him his word that he would be handed an improved contract. The club’s first offer, in September last year, was for seven million euros post-tax – one million more than he is currently earning. Ramos wants 10 million. Madrid though are in no hurry to renew the player’s contract as Ramos has two years to run in his existing arrangement and his buy-out fee is 200 million euros.
Up until the last week in June, Ramos and Florentino have been living a sort of Cold War. It was then that the player brought up the interest from Manchester United to José Ángel Sánchez, demanding that the General Director to take notice of all of incoming offers for him. He already had one from United – a five-year deal and 55 million euros. Far from holding the club to ransom, Ramos decided to hold fire but the situation grew complicated when David de Gea entered the frame. Florentino was worried about the aftereffects of Iker Casillas’ departure; when the keeper made a second farewell appearance on 13 July, around 2,000 fans in the stands called for the President to steop down. That was the reason why a ceasefire was arranged in Guangzhou, when Pérez did an about-turn after witnessing the criticism he had received over the handling of Casillas’ exit.
State of play. As it stands, the mood within the club about Ramos’ future is optimistic: “Ramos wants to end his career at Madrid, and that is what we want to”. Another thing is whether the player is allowed to continue at any price. Ramos is not prepared to take a cut in pay while Florentino doesn’t want to give the impression that he has been browbeaten into giving the player what he wants. This week we will see whether the two parties can strike a definitive peace deal.