Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has come under fire a number of times this year. His decision to replace Sergio Ramos with another experienced center back in free agency, Bayern Munich’s David Alaba, was certainly a controversial decision at the time. Madridistas could not believe that Perez would let a club legend of Ramos’ level walk, and it did not help that the wounds of Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Juventus had not yet healed either.
But just a couple of months in the 2021-2022 season, it already seems like Perez made the right decision here. Recall that the major reason for the impasse between Ramos and Real Madrid was the length of the contract extension. There was no doubt that both parties wanted to continue their working relationship, but Ramos, at the age of 35, wanted a two-year extension. Real almost never give out more than year-to-year deals to players above the age of 33, which seems to be no problem to fellow club legends Karim Benzema and Luka Modric.
Real certainly weren’t going to give Ramos a two-year extension at the same salary, let alone to a player who had miss the vast majority of the second half of the 2020-2021 season due to injury. There were serious red flags that Perez was not willing to overlook, whereas you could argue Madridistas were a little too rosy regarding the chances of Ramos declining.
As amazing as Ramos was in the first half of the 2020-2021 season and throughout 2019-2020, all it takes is one cycle of injuries to a 35-year-old player for it all to come crashing down. And while it’s unclear if that’s the case for Ramos as of yet, there’s very much a fear that the new PSG star is in trouble. He has not played a single minute for the Ligue 1 club due to injury.
David Alaba has been worth the wages
Meanwhile, David Alaba has been worth the big salary. And he is a handful of years younger than Ramos, in addition to being more versatile. A possible midfielder, Alaba played well at left back for Real Madrid and has now settled in nicely as Eder Militao’s center back partner. Alaba has quickly become a leader, a fan favorite, and a highly-effective defender who cuts out danger. He is also very important to the team’s build-up play, much like Ramos was.
There were many Madridistas pointing out Alaba’s sensational 2019-2020 season at center back, in which he was a pivotal piece in Bayern winning the treble. He had a down season in 2020-2021 due to speculation around his future and some woeful defending from a few of his inept/overrated teammates, but Alaba was a standout in the Euros and has been even better for Real Madrid.
Alaba takes things seriously. There has been no drop-off in defensive quality, attacking juice, or leadership between Ramos and Alaba. It sounds wild to say that, especially the leadership part, but that’s how impressive Alaba has been as a player and personality for Real Madrid.
It is sad to see that Ramos cannot get healthy, and hopefully he can put these injury issues behind him so that he can succeed. He still means a lot to Real Madrid.
But setting aside nostalgia, the start to the 2021-2022 campaign has been so conclusive that no Madridista can question Perez’s decision now. He was right for not taking the financial risk of extending Ramos for more than one year, and he may have found a better player in Alaba. Not just over the next few years of Alaba’s contract, but for the current season, too.