''I'm going all in. I come with a lot of enthusiasm, and it's a bet you won't regret.'' Sergio Ramos, who is about to turn 39, embarks on an adventure in Mexico after six months without a team. The defender has signed with the Rayados de Monterrey club, one of the mid-tier teams in Mexico, which will compete in the Club World Cup this summer. It is this international projection that has finally convinced the Sevillian to start a new chapter after turning down offers from European teams and the emerging Arab leagues.
Other factors have also played a role, such as a familiar environment, a one-year contract, and a salary that could reach four million, plus bonuses for sporting performance and income from merchandising. ''I chose Rayados because it provides me with balance, which is what I was looking for and what no one else had offered me. It gives me market balance, country balance, city balance, fan balance, family balance, teammate balance, coach balance... Feeling loved is very gratifying,'' stated the Spanish international after donning his new jersey, featuring blue and white vertical stripes, and announcing that he will wear the number 93 jersey, a nod to Real Madrid fans for the symbolic minute of the 2014 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid in Lisbon.
The Spanish international settles in Monterrey after four years in which his status has declined. Nothing was the same after his departure from Real Madrid. His move to PSG was never profitable due to numerous injuries. He returned to Sevilla during a tumultuous period for the club and last summer severed ties with the club where he was born. Now he joins a club that has set high goals. Its president, José Antonio Noriega (Mexico City, December 29, 1969), a former midfielder, is betting on talented players. ''Sergio Ramos is the most important signing in the history of our team,'' stated the executive.
Rayados has a budget of around 1.7 billion Mexican pesos, approximately 90 million euros, and aims to establish itself in the top tier of Mexican football, alongside America, Chivas, Tigres, or Pumas. The most prominent player in its history was the Portuguese Eusebio, signed in 1976.
This season, they are aiming for a new Clausura title, their sixth Concacaf championship, and to surprise in the Club World Cup, where they will be in a group with Inter, River Plate, and Urawa Red Diamonds. Ramos' great desire is to face Real Madrid in the second phase of that competition.
For its growth, the club has the financial backing of Fomento Económico Mexicano, a multinational company in beverages, commercial, and restaurant sectors, founded in 1890 in Monterrey, the most important city in the northern state of Nuevo León, with over five million inhabitants. Monterrey boasts over 50,000 industries, is a modern city, and holds significant economic power.
Ramos, seen by Rayados as one of the legends of Real Madrid's history, will share the team with several former Spanish league players, such as midfielders Sergio Canales (Racing, Real Madrid, Betis, Valencia, Real Sociedad), Oliver Torres (Atlético de Madrid, Villarreal, Sevilla), and the Argentine Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla).
The Mexican team is under the management of Argentine Martín Demichelis, a former defender from Málaga, Atlético de Madrid, and Espanyol.
He will be the latest in a long list of Spanish footballers who have chosen Mexico as the final stage of their careers, such as Pirri, Lángara, Asensi, Idígoras, Butragueño, Míchel, Sanchís, Guardiola, or Bakero.