Sergio Ramos will leave real Madrid after 16 seasons with the The league Giants, when his contract expires at the end of the month, the club announced on Wednesday.
Madrid planned a farewell ceremony for their longtime captain on Thursday in the presence of club president Florentino Perez.
Ramos, 35, wanted a new two-year deal to stay with Madrid, but sources told ESPN that Perez was unwilling to break its policy of only giving one-year contracts to players over 30.
– Man City is considering Ramos on two-year deal – Sources
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The talks between Perez and Ramos went on all of last year and lasted into June. However, neither party was willing to compromise.
Despite reports to the contrary, sources told ESPN that Ramos did not request a raise to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ramos, who made 671 appearances for Madrid and scored 101 goals, has not yet made a firm decision about his future and is unlikely to reveal his next goal in Thursday’s farewell event.
ESPN recently revealed that Manchester city are the front runners to land his signature, although there are other options on the table.
The Premier League The master is ready to offer a two-year contract until the summer of 2023. From there, depending on performance and Ramos’ own plans, the defender could either move on to City for a third season or accept an option to join Major League Soccer page New York City FCwhich also belong to the City Football Group.
Ramos is a direct petition from city coach Pep Guardiola. The previous one Barcelona The coach values the experience he would add to his squad, as well as the competition and guidance he would provide to younger center-backs Ruben Dias and John Stones.
Sergio Ramos is one of Madrid’s career ladders in terms of games played and trophies won. Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
City also has Nathan Ake but they lost Eric Garcia free transfer to Barca and Aymeric Laporte could leave this summer after losing his place on the team.
Ramos turned 35 in March, but sources have told ESPN that City is holding data suggesting that he is still able to physically play at the level of a player aged “28-30”.
ESPN first reported on Jan. 4 that City was monitoring Ramos’ situation. Guardiola’s persistence was key to keeping track of developments with Madrid.
However, the player’s camp is not ruling anything out as several clubs have expressed interest in recent months.
Madrid signed Ramos from Seville in 2005 and paid his € 27m release clause.
He soon became an important member of the team and in 16 years with the club has won five La Liga titles, four Champions League, four Club World Cups, three European Super Cups, two Copa del Reys and four Spanish Super Cups.
During this time he also won two European championships with Spain and the World Cup, although injury problems led to him in 2021 Missed Luis Enrique’s squad for Euro 2020.
Ramos made just 21 appearances for Madrid in all competitions last season when Los Blancos ended the season without a trophy and missed the championship title for their rivals Atletico Madrid on the last day of the season.
