Manchester United are not letting up in their pursuit of Sergio Ramos. The English club remain insistent and they have sent an offer of €45m to the Bernabéu for the centre-back, but Madrid consider that offer to be insufficient and referred to the figure that they have asked for since the start: €90m.
The same message from Old Trafford continues to arrive in the Spanish capital. In order to let go of David de Gea, Madrid must allow Ramos to do the same. Madrid president Florentino Pérez, who had to listen to fans castigating him at Iker Casillas’ second farewell event, (“Ramos is not for sale!” they chanted) closed the exit door for the club’s new captain while he appeared in front of the press. “There are footballers that the club does not want to leave and they will not go…”
United are maintaining their game of poker with Madrid as they have set aside a significant amount of money for Ramos. Louis van Gaal has already managed to persuade Ed Woodward (United’s executive vice-chairman) to fork out €110m to strengthen other positions (Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin and Matteo Darmian) and now he wants a leader for his defence. There will be no economic problems for United with the Madrid defender (they offered him €11m a year for five seasons) and the soap opera, just like De Gea’s, threatens to drag on.