It’s beginning to seem as if this might be the only way to sign Sergio Ramos and, from what we all know of the situation, certainly the only way the situation will be resolved this summer.
But Marca have boldly declared on their front page today that Manchester United have asked Sergio Ramos to request a transfer from Real Madrid.
Not that such a move will still guarantee that Ramos will be allowed to leave.
Having already requested privately that he be allowed to join Manchester United, both Real Madrid and Florentino Perez would prefer to avoid a situation where their captain in waiting (though, for what it’s worth, Marca already describe Ramos as ‘El Capitan’) publicly says he wants to leave the club. Threatening to go public may be the only way to get Perez to acquiesce to his choice but it’s also worth pointing out the fact that Ramos has yet to do so – and the fact that he has behaved like a model professional to this point – suggests he may well be open to negotiation about saying.
As it stands, Real Madrid are reluctantly ready to watch David De Gea see out the final year of his contract if it means they keep Ramos. They have allocated their squad numbers of 1 and 13 (and 25, although this is a young goalkeeper that Real Madrid can mercilessly dispose of as is their wont) and have the manager and senior players coming out to publicly declare they want the player to stay.
On the other hand, it is no secret now that Ramos is United’s number one target. It’s a gamble of a game being played by Louis van Gaal to not sign another defender in the hope that the perception of Ramos being the key target remains but the club appear to have contingency plans in place in case David De Gea is no longer available for selection.
And, in apparently asking Ramos to force the issue, it appears that all rests on the imminent meeting between the Real Madrid player and president.