The irreconcilable divorce between Ramos and Madrid

Despite Carlo Ancelotti's arrival potentially changing the outlook, it looks unlikely that Sergio Ramos will be a Real Madrid player beyond 30th June.

Several media outlets, such as 'Onda Cero' and 'AS' have discounted this as an option, as they report that the salary cut rejected by Ramos as being the main stumbling block in Madrid offering him a new deal.

It's worth remembering that the Madrid captain has already had a number of disagreements with president Florentino Perez in the past, although in the end both parties always ended up reaching an agreement.

Sergio Ramos has been close to leaving the Spanish capital on a number of occasions over the last few years. Manchester United were close to securing his signature in 2015, before Perez finally accepted to offer him a new multi-million pound deal.

Even more surreal was what occured in 2019, when Ramos even gave a press conference to speak about his future. At the time, he wanted the freedom to be able to move to China, although he finally ended up staying and even stated that he would play for Madrid for free. In short, that he would happily retire in the Spanish capital.

But two years have passed since then, and his statements no longer apply. This time around, less than 30 days remain to reach a rapid agreement which doesn't look to be forthcoming. While Ramos may have been a key player in the 2019/20 campaign, his physical problems in this recent 2020/21 season combined with being 35-years-of-age have made an advantegeous agreement for both parties extremely difficult. 

The centre-back has played in less than half of games this season than he did the last - 21 compared to 44 - and has also played less than half the minutes - dropping to 1,792 from more than the 3,800 last campaign. In addition, since March he has only played a controversial four minutes for Spain in their match against Kosovo, as well as the entirety of Madrid's clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A severe lack of game time which indicates Sergio Ramos' future as being outside of the Spanish capital.