Ramos Ready to Leave the Elite, Already?

Ramos Ready to Leave the Elite, Already?

Could the rumors swirling around Sergio Ramos be true? At the age of 33 and still the starting defender in the backfield of the most successful club in history could he be ready to leave the highest level of football for a wad of cash in Asia? Reports are saying that he wants to leave immediately for a Chinese club and he wants to go for free. According to The Guardian: Florentino Pérez has said it would be “impossible” to allow Sergio Ramos to leave Real Madrid for free after claiming the defender has told him of an attractive offer from a Chinese Super League club. China’s football authorities have placed a 100% transfer tax on overseas players and if the 33-year-old left to join the unnamed club he would have to leave for free. Pérez told the radio station Onda Cero he had spoken with the club captain about the offer. “Sergio Ramos has not been in my house nor I in his – they came to see me at the office,” Real’s president said. “They told me they had a very good offer from China but that the rules there do not allow paying for the transfer. I told Ramos it was impossible for Real Madrid to let their captain go for free.” Ramos, who has been with Real since 2005, is said to be determined to leave following a falling out with Pérez over the Champions League defeat by Ajax. China is not the only possible destination as Manchester United and Liverpool have also shown interest in the defenders abilities. According to AS: A couple of years ago, the Chinese government imposed a new levy on big money transfers from Europe in a bid to cool a market which was getting out of hand. A number of players made the move from Europe to China at inflated prices - Oscar joined Shanghai SIPG for 60 million euros, Hulk also to Shanghai SIPG for 55.8 million, Alex Teixeira joined Jiangsu Suning for 50 million, Paulinho moved to Evergrande for 42 million and Jackson Martínez joined him for 42 million. Those days are over, any club who wants to spend 45 million yuen (5.8 million euros) on a player must deposit the same amount in the Chinese Football Association -those funds would then go directly to the corresponding member associations who in turn, use the money to finance their own youth development programs to promote home-grown talent. Maybe Ramos feels like he’s won it all, and he has: World Cup, Euro (2) (with Spain), Champions League (4), Liga (4), Copa del rey (2), European and Spanish Supercups and Club World Cups. If he is ready to step out of the limelight and take a cash windfall, now is not a bad time. But he doesn’t have enough money already? Is the money worth missing 2 or 3 more years at the top of the game and potential more records and trophies?
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