Ramos: After joining PSG, I started to wonder if leaving Real Madrid was a good move

Sergio Ramos is an absolute icon of Real Madrid. For 15 years, he was an absolute fixture in the Los Blancos line-up, and later captain. His departure to PSG shocked so many, Ramos himself later wondered if it was a good move.

When he joined Real Madrid from Sevilla as a youngster, much was expected of him. And Sergio Ramos has fulfilled everything and perhaps even surpassed it. He won the Champions League four times in five years, three of which he lifted the trophy over his head as captain.

In the 2014 Champions League final against Atlético, he became immortal when he sent the game into extra time at 92:48. The fans loved him, as did his teammates and coaches, he was a tremendous leader and icon.

But in the summer of 2021 came the split. Ramos’ heretofore perfect relationship with President Florentino Pérez was in tatters. In fact, the Spanish stopper missed the entire spring and his contract was up at 35. Pérez, as is his custom, only offers one-year contracts to players over 33.

He wants to prevent the older player from losing performance and spending a year taking the place of others with his huge salary. If the season’s performance merits the contract, he will get it for another year, as will the soon-to-be 38-year-old Modric, who will probably extend for another season.

Only Ramos had hoped that as captain and club legend he might receive different treatment. He asked for a two-year contract, wanting longer security for himself and his family. The money was not the issue at all, only the length of the contract.

But Pérez didn’t budge, offering Ramos only a one-year contract. In the end, there was no agreement and Ramos went to PSG, where he got a multi-year contract.

But after a year he was already regretting whether it was the right move. In an interview with UEFA ahead of PSG’s eighth-final with Bayern, he revisited his departure from Madrid.

“Leaving Real Madrid was obviously a big change. My goal is always to win. I won a lot with Real Madrid, but I thought it was a good opportunity to change the environment… to try and help a team like Paris,” Ramos began to say.

“At the beginning, everything went wrong. I got injured, it took me a while to recover and adapt to a new system, a new team and a new coach. You start to question whether you did the right thing by leaving Real Madrid,” Ramos says.

However, he has now acclimatised in the French capital, got his health back on track and is now playing regularly in the starting line-up.

Source: UEFA