Manchester United need winners and world-class defenders – Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid is both

Defender Sergio Ramos has had his head turned by Manchester United
The Spain player is at an impasse in contract negotiations at Real Madrid
He would be the perfect signing for Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford
READ: Manchester United close to signing Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid

Published:
11:23 GMT, 22 June 2015

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Updated:
12:23 GMT, 22 June 2015

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If Sergio Ramos’ contract brinkmanship with Real Madrid does end in him moving to Old Trafford this summer, Manchester United fans will ask themselves are they getting a legend or a liability?

He wins trophies but he also picks up red cards and wasn’t he at the heart of the dressing room divide that split the club when Jose Mourinho was the manager?

But anyone who has watched Ramos over the last decade knows that the pros far outweigh the cons. If there are two types of player that United need to acquire this summer they are winners and world class defenders, and Ramos is both.

Spain and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has been strongly linked with a switch to Manchester United

Ramos is at an impasse with Madrid in contract negotiations and United are ready to pounce

Sergio Ramos (left) blocks a shot by Danny Welbeck as Madrid take on United in the 2013 Champions League

Ramos (right) and his wife Pilar Rubio could be preparing for a move to Manchester from Madrid

There were shades of Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring injury-time goals at the Nou Camp in 1999, when Ramos rose to head in a Luka Modric’ corner on 93 minutes last summer and take the Madrid-derby Champions League final into an extra half hour.

Many Madrid supporters had given up on overturning Atletico’s 1-0 lead, Ramos never gives up.

He showed the same spirit in Austria in 2008 when he won the European Championship as a marauding right back with Spain; the same spirit in 2010 in South Africa when the World Cup as a central defender; and the same spirit again in 2012 when he won the Euros for a second time.

Add that to the Spanish Leagues, Spanish Cups, Spanish and European Super Cups and World Club Cup and there is nothing he hasn’t won.

Before analysing him as a defender he should be appreciated as a leader – someone who, like Bryan Robson and Roy Keane at Old Trafford in the past, can drag a side to success. If United want to get back to being serial winners he fits perfectly.

As a defender he has his critics but can you win 128 caps for Spain without being one of the best of your generation? The partnership with Gerard Pique for the national side, and with Pepe for his club side have been two of the best ever seen in Spain.

Coaches love him because his pace means the team can defend high up the pitch. He dominates in the air and his distribution from the back means possession is kept more easily.

When he was injured last term Madrid’s season collapsed in part because of his absence.

Louis van Gaal’s fondness for being flexible with his system will not be a problem.

Ramos played as an attacker in his youth before dropping back into defence and he has also played in defensive midfield. He did it twice last season in big games – to great effect against Atletico in the Champions League and with less success against Juventus.

The fact that Carlo Ancelotti preferred him there to midfielder Asier Illarramendi speaks volumes for how much the Italian coach believed in his captain.

Ramos scored Madrid’s equalising goal in the 2014 Champions League final against city rivals Atletico Madrid

Ramos has been a pivotal figure in the Madrid side and won the Champions League with the club in 2014

Ramos (second right), pictured against Barcelona, also has an impressive eye for goal for a defender

Ramos’ relationship with Ancelotti was excellent and part of the player’s current unhappiness comes from the decision to get rid of the coach who had led Madrid to their 10th European Cup.

That closeness between the two also smashes another Ramos myth that he is a trouble-maker, likely to upset a dressing room.

When Mourinho fell out with players in his final season at Madrid, Ramos was in a group, headed by Iker Casillas and which eventually included Cristiano Ronaldo, that turned against their manager. But Ramos was never the most militant.

He’s not a political animal; he’s only really interested in playing football.

He still has a kid-like attitude towards the game and in the past it has got the better of him on the pitch.

Charging out of position to make a rash challenge that will either cost a goal or earn him a red card has become an unfortunate trademark. The frustrated striker can get the better of him and the disciplinary record is a record-breaking one for all the wrong reasons.

No one has been sent off as many times for Madrid.

But of the 19 reds he has received many have been petty and there is no question he would have been sent off far fewer times in the Premier League, where there is greater leniency.

Ramos was part of the group that fell out with Jose Mourinho (left) at Madrid but he was not the most militant

Ramos (left) is said to be unhappy with Madrid’s decision to sack Carlo Ancelotti as the club’s manager

Ramos has been sent off for Madrid 19 times, more than any other player in the history of the club

Ramos (left) has formed a formidable partnership at the centre of the Madrid defence with Pepe (right)

That is another reason why he would settle into a football culture that in many ways suits his rambunctious style more than the, at times, lukewarm Liga.

‘Will he come?’ That remains a far more pertinent question than ‘Will it work?’

In an ideal world he wants to stay at Real Madrid for his entire career. But the world has never been ‘ideal’ for captains at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Fernando Hierro and Raul were both ushered out of the back door and Iker Casillas is now enduring similar treatment.

Ramos has a tattoo on each calf showing the Champions League and World Cup trophies that he has won

Ramos (right) celebrates with former United man Cristiano Ronaldo after he scored against Juventus this year

Ramos is a World Cup winner with Spain, and has also claimed two European Championships and 128 caps

Ramos (left) would significantly bolster United’s defence if he arrived at Old Trafford from Spanish side Madrid

Ramos can see his own career in the Spanish capital ending in a similar way. A move to the one club in the world that could rival Madrid for prestige, wealth and history would be one way to dodge that particular destiny.

Madrid don’t want to pay him €10million (£7.15m) a season and United do.

For a club needing a top defender and a born winner, he would be worth every penny.