LALIGA
Ex-Besiktas official reveals huge contract offer former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos rejected
After leaving PSG, Ramos eventually re-joined first club Sevilla having been linked with moves to Turkey, MLS and Liga MX.
Serhan Çetinsaya, former vice-president of Besiktas, has dicussed the Turkish club’s failed attempt to convince former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos to move to Istanbul. After leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2022-23 season, the 37-year-old was linked with clubs all around the world, including in MLS and Liga MX, but eventually decided to return to LaLiga side Sevilla, where he began his career.
Ramos “didn’t even consider” lucrative contract offer
“We worked hard to close the move for Ramos. We had an agreement with him, but it didn’t happen. As a Besiktas fan, I would have loved to see him play there. We negotiated for 18 or 19 days. The money was secondary. Ramos received another offer of €27 million ($29.02 million) after tax, but he didn’t even consider it”.
Ex-Madrid defender “believed he would score 25 goals” in Turkey
Çetinsaya spoke about the talks held with the central defender, in which former Real Madrid midfielder Guti, who finished his career at Besiktas, played a key role: “Guti spoke with Ramos on our behalf. He did an excellent job. On the afternoon of Monday 21 August, we got a message saying ‘Congratulations to Beşiktaş' on the transfer. Ramos had given us the green light. We even discussed bonuses with his agent. We got the contracts ready with our lawyers and sent them to him. We were then invited to his home in Madrid to complete the outstanding paperwork, then we would bring Ramos back to Turkey. We spent a long time discussing how much we would pay if he scored more than 25 goals. He asked for a big bonus because he believed he would score 25 goals.”
Why did Ramos’ move to Besiktas fall through?
Çetinsaya resigned from his position after Besiktas’ president ultimately decided not to commit to paying big money for the former Spain international. “Six clubs competed for Ramos’ signature, one of which was (Besiktas’ rivals) Galatasaray. When we started negotiating, he didn’t want to sign for a team that wasn’t in the Champions League, but we managed to convince him otherwise. Ramos wanted a two-year contract, but we agreed on a one-year deal with the option of a further year. At the end of the first year, we had the right to terminate his contract.
“We were going to pay him €4 million ($4.3 million), a €1 million ($1.08 million) signing-on fee and €6 million ($6.45 million) which would be paid by a sponsor in exchange for recording an advert. The president was worried about not finding a sponsor who would pay it and we pulled out of the running to sign him”.