Real Madrid: Why we should be confident Sergio Ramos will stay

There has been a lot of drama surrounding the reported negotiations between Real Madrid and Sergio Ramos, but drama tends to be manufactured.

The reason for the impasse is clear. No, Ramos is not greedy, and to insinuate that is disrespectful to a club legend. It all comes down to a philosophical issue – if I may call it that. Real Madrid don’t like giving players above a certain age extensions of more than one year. Hence why Luka Modric signed a one-year deal to prolong his stay in Madrid. Ramos, on the other hand, is playing so well despite being 34 that he feels he should receive a two-year extension.

My personal stance is clear. Age is nothing but a number. Yes, obviously age is correlated with a decline in physical skills and quality, but that decline is not the same for every player at every position. Individuals and circumstances are unique. Modric, Ramos, and even Cristiano Ronaldo have all shown that they are still world-class players beyond the age of 33.

However, my personal stance is irrelevant. I am not Florentino Perez, nor am I in any position to influence the president of Real Madrid. Perez and Ramos are the ones who must sit down and compromise on a deal.

Legacy is the word that ties Real Madrid and Sergio Ramos together

It seems as if everything else we hear about Ramos’ contract negotiations is noise. There’s noise about his brother. Noise about David Alaba. Noise about PSG. Noise about salary cuts and COVID and disrespect and respect and the din becomes so overwhelming that my sentences ramble like the very incessant rumors that cause me to forcefully squeeze my temporal lobe until the sound becomes nothing but a ringing.

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Because there is only one thing that matters. I can even sum it up in one word.

Legacy.

Sergio Ramos’ legacy at Real Madrid is unlike anybody else’s in European football right now. Who else means this much to their club and has accomplished what they have accomplished at their club? I can wax poetically about his unprecedented goal-scoring at center back, his lion-like leadership, or his ball-playing ability. Instead, I’ll just leave this here: 92:48.

But the word “legacy” also applies to Perez. He has built his own legacy at Real Madrid. Yet even his prowess has been called into question amidst a failed transfer strategy that has hamstrung Zinedine Zidane’s ability to compete in the immediate future.

If Perez were to let Ramos go – because of his stubbornness to rid himself of an antiquated contract principle – and then strike out in the subsequent transfer window, where would that leave him and the club?

I do not need to sell any Madridista on the merits and importance of keeping Ramos. He is so revered and his stature so grand that scarcely a fan of the club would dare raise their finger against their No. 4.

If the fanbase almost universally agrees on Ramos, then I am quite sure every decision-making in the club, Perez included, feels the same way.

There will be a compromise. So much is on the line emotionally, and when words like “legacy” and “captain” are on the line, you just know cool heads will have to prevail sooner rather than later. Ramos’ situation is easy to blow out of proportion because of the juicy nature of “What ifs?” and all the conspiracy theories that can easily be concocted in the laboratory of media minds, but the law of parsimony comes to mind here. It really is simple.

Real Madrid and Sergio Ramos mean too much to each other for either party to walk away. When the cards are on the table and it is time to make a decision, I have confidence pen will meet paper and hands will be shaken.