What is the Sergio Ramos saga 2015? It looked like Manchester United had nailed down a deal with the Real Madrid defender, offering him £9.8 million a year (or £200,000 per week) to play in England. That would have been a significant step up from what Ramos is currently making with Real Madrid, and seemed to be enough to lure the 29-year-old Spaniard away from the football club where he has spent the past 10 years of his career. In fact, the rumor was that Ramos actually agreed to United's high-paying deal, before backing out and deciding to stay at the Santiago Bernebeu. Now, Sergio is reportedly preparing to sign a brand new contract at Real Madrid.
To be fair, it may have been Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, or even new club manager Rafael Benitez, who threw a wrench in Sergio's plans to leave the Spanish La Liga in his rearview. After all, in 2011, Ramos extended his contract with the Vikings to run until 2017. In other words, even if Sergio really did want to move to Manchester United, he was still bound to Real Madrid for two years unless the football club decided to sell him. Ultimately, Ramos said he realized that the Vikings weren't going to sell him, and decided to make the best of it by negotiating a new contract with the soccer team.
A Ploy for Higher Pay?Â
Still, some fans and football analysts are speculating that Sergio Ramos may have played Manchester 
United and Real Madrid against one another in order to leverage a more favorable contract with his longtime club.
The basic timeline of the saga goes like this: Ramos reportedly made it clear to Real Madrid earlier this summer that he wanted a transfer to Manchester United. Louis van Gaal's first two bids for Ramos were rejected out of hand by the Vikings, but the third-the aforementioned £9.8-million-per-year deal-was still on the table when rumors emerged that Sergio had "made up" with the bosses at Santiago Bernebeu.
The theory among some soccer fans-particularly those in the Premier League-is that Sergio Ramos wanted a higher-paying contract from Real Madrid, and decided to use Manchester United's interest in signing him to make it happen. If it's money Ramos is after, though, Man United were still the better game in town: reports indicate that his new contract with the Vikings will be worth between £8 and £9 million annually.
A Coup for Real Madrid
For Manchester United supporters, being snubbed by Ramos likely stings a bit-especially since time is dwindling in the transfer season, and especially since something similar happened to blow up Man Utd's plans of signing Barcelona's Dani Alves earlier this summer.
For fans in the Real Madrid shirt 2015 2016, a new contract to keep Ramos happy is good news. In addition to being one of the finest defensive talents in the football world, Sergio is also something of a Real Madrid institution at this point, and losing him to a side that will also be competing for the UEFA Champions League this year would have been a definite blow.
Following the departure of Iker Casillas, Ramos is the most-
capped player on Real Madrid's roster. In his 10 seasons, the 29-year-old central defender has recorded 444 appearances with the soccer team-the 16th highest tally in club history. With 55 goals to his name across all Real Madrid competitions, he's also the third highest-scoring defender in club history, behind Fernando Hierro (127) and Robert Carlos (69).
Add the fact that Sergio has been named the La Liga's Best Defender three times (in 2012, 2013, and 2014), and that he won the Golden Ball Award for the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, and it's clear that he is a very important part of the team.
What do you think about the Sergio Ramos saga? Will you be happy to see him don the Real Madrid football shirt 2015 2016 this fall? Or do you think he used Manchester United as leverage to get an increase in pay? Share your thoughts with Soccer Box by finding us on social media, we are on multiple networks including Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
