Sevilla signing Sergio Ramos has not held back on the sentimental value of his return to the club 18 years after leaving, and it even reduced Spain’s hardman to tears while speaking about it.
Ramos and Sevilla have been on shaky ground for some time after he left on the final day of the transfer window in 2005 for €27m, joining Real Madrid. When he celebrated a brace in front of the Sevilla fans in 2018, he was showered in abuse by the local support.
After signing, the first media that Sevilla put out was Ramos apologising to the Sevilla fans and players whom he may have hurt.
Speaking to Sevilla TV, Ramos too looked as if the clashes had hurt them.
“It makes me emotional to talk about my grandfather. The image I left with is very ugly, he left here crying. In the end we have been Sevilla fans since birth. The last memory of my grandfather is very ugly, leaving here (from the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan) and seeing how people whistled for his grandson.”
“Obviously when making a decision I took it into account. We didn’t deserve it. Neither as a family, nor as fans, I think it harmed and penalised all of us. When a point like this arrives, you receive many offers. I don’t like to talk. But we had the opportunity to continue in Paris. Far from my house, from both Seville and Madrid. One reflects and sees how the years go by, and the opportunities went by too.”
The 37-year-old held out for an offer in extremis from Sevilla, holding out from interest in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Sergio Ramos se emociona pic.twitter.com/vJ45LVo4dN
— El Abuelo Sevillista (@ElAbueloSFC) September 4, 2023
“There are things in life that you cannot buy with money. It’s always the right decision. My heart asked me to return home. I had a debt with Sevillismo. I wanted to fix it as soon as possible. I also had a debt with Puerta, with Reyes, and with people who move you. I wanted to be a main act and I didn’t see the possibility of going away. I think it was time. The team of my soul has always been Sevilla. What was left in the past must stay in the past I apologised to Sevillismo. I am very passionate and I have always said it out loud. I apologise. We are the same family and we defend the same shield. Even though they whistled me playing for Madrid, when I heard the Sevilla anthem I got goosebumps.”
Ramos came through the academy system at Sevilla, and was an immediate revelation at right-back.
“The one who took me to train was my grandfather Pepin and my grandfather Juan, one a taxi driver and the other, a gas driver. Part of my success is because of them. The determination that the child had to play for Sevilla and someone had to take him. I had that thorn in my side and I wanted to change this situation, even though they are watching it from above. I have always had a season ticket with the Biris. I have always been there in the stands.”
It is still yet to be seen how the Sevilla fans receive Ramos. The Biris that Ramos mentions are the ultras group that he was once a part of, but many of whom thoroughly dislike him now. They would later publish a statement calling out the club for making a signing that did not represent their values.
