Comment: Sergio Ramos Is Madrid's Real Signing

Feliz año nuevo; Happy New Year. January is upon us and it's not a moment too soon for Real Madrid. Beginning 2008/09 with the Robinho saga, season-ending injuries to the prolific Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Mahamadou Diarrà followed. The Ruben De La Red medical emergency and long-term absences to Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Gabriel Heinze, and Pepe have all contrived to see Madrid literally limp into 2009.

The already-tumultuous first half of the season has been most heavily accented with a coaching change as Juande Ramos controversially took the helm before El Clásico and Bernd Schuster bid his former team farewell via text message.  

The offices at the Bernabéu have been busy drawing up ways to salvage this campaign’s project and in the midst of the turmoil, three intriguing signings have already been made. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is set to don the number 19 shirt, canterano Dani Parejo has been brought back to Madrid to conjure some much-needed creation in the merengue attack, and Lassana Diarrà has been prised away from Portsmouth to serve as a much-needed clot in the Madrid midfield.  

Management has assured the arrival of at least one more new player, most likely a winger, and the rumor mill has run wild with speculation. But one crucial fixture seems to have been curiously left out of the mix and Real Madrid’s squad of the future depends on the re-signing of a performer already at the club.

In late November, an eyebrow-raising report surfaced that AC Milan was keen to sign Sergio Ramos at season’s end and that Real Madrid would be willing to negotiate if Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato was put on the bargaining table. While Pato has acquitted himself in his first full season at Milan and looks to be on the path to becoming one of the world’s best, to part with Sergio Ramos would be a cardinal sin for Los Merengues.

A product of the Sevilla youth system brought to the Spanish capital in the final year of Florentino Perez’s attempt to build a team of international All-Stars, 22-year-old Sergio Ramos has already begun to inherit the face of Real Madrid. Touted as the next Paolo Maldini, Ramos’ deft touch on the ball, no-compromise defending and offensive prowess already make him one of Madrid’s best players. His skill is unquestionable, but perhaps most important is the sense of identity Sergio Ramos brings to Madrid.  

A team’s identity is an important reflection of how a side is received by fans and while a group of international stars may dazzle spectators on the pitch, behind a microphone there tends to be a disconnection when fans feel a cultural/linguistic separation from their idols. While the football may be what matters most, fan support is only maintained at a local level when those that fill the seats feel a certain solidarity with a team’s players. 

Barcelona engenders local support by way of their youth system. Messi aside, with such players as Puyol, Xavi, Valdes, Bojan, Piqué, Busquets, and Jorquera who hail from Catalunya and Iniesta and Pedro who are Spanish, fans are made to feel, in a manner, a part of the team. While Madrid has begun to utilize their youth system to a greater extent with the inclusions of De La Red, Palanca, Parejo, and Bueno, it can be argued that today’s Madrid-based players like Javi García and Miguel Torres play far less central roles than their rival counterparts.

For a Real Madrid club that has long been “Spain’s team”, there are just four Spanish players in Madrid’s starting line-up (Casillas, Raúl, Ramos, and Guti), of which only two (Casillas and Ramos) play for La Selección. As a result, Ramos has assumed the role of fan favourite not just for his consistent form, but also for his ties to country.  

Already, the dynamic Andalusian defender is a fixture at right-back for La Roja and does not look like he will be relinquishing the position any time soon. Having helped win a European Championship for Spain, he developed an excellent understanding and friendship with Iker Casillas.  Ramos is so versatile a defender he can be used in virtually any position (including at left-back as he was assigned to neutralize Messi in El Clásico), and looks to be on the path to become an iconic Madrid player in the same vein as Fernando Hierro (who also wore the number 4 shirt).

If Madrid are to ensure their continuation as the royal club of Spain, Sergio Ramos must play an integral role in that project. As Raúl, Guti, and Salgado fade into the twilight of their careers and with Casillas contracted as a “madridista for life” with a blockbuster deal last season, Sergio Ramos looks tailor-made as the future bearer of the captain’s armband. As he continues to mature, his strength and shouldering of responsibility make him the Spanish embodiment of the next generation of Madrid leadership. Even the prospect of Pato’s Brazilian flair pales in comparison to the value of those qualities Sergio Ramos seems destined to bring to Los Blancos.

So as the Bernabéu offices contemplate the signing of a new fleet-footed winger, one hopes that a long-term contract is also in the process of being drafted. For if it is, Sergio Ramos could be Madrid’s most important signing of the winter transfer window.

--Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com