“May this year surprise us with unexpected opportunities and give us the joy of making our dreams come true. Let’s go!” These words from Sergio Ramos on his social networks, just after his appearance in the race to buy Sevilla, are the only known response from the world champion to news revealed this Thursday and which created a great upheaval in national football. That a legend like him intends to take over the club he loves and where he grew up as a footballer has revolutionized the news of the Andalusian club.
The first impact of the appearance of Ramos in the race to buy the Andalusian club is full of the DNA of Sevilla, a process that apparently was obviously going to end with foreign capital at the head of the entity. Since Sevilla’s main shareholders decided to put their shares up for sale last September, several offers have reached the club. One of them, financed with American money, would have offered 3,500 euros for each of the 103,467 shares belonging to the four major Sevillian families that own the club. In order of importance, the Del Nido family, with 28% of the shares; José Castro, current vice president, and the so-called Utrera Group plus the Alés family, with 23%; the Carrión family, with 15%; and the so-called American group which controls about another 15%.
Sergio Ramos’ offer came at a time when it emerged that the American project had reduced its initial offer after a Due Diligence (exhaustive audit) analyzed Sevilla’s financial situation. The reduction of 3,500 euros per share would have been considerable. However, this newspaper can confirm that one of the club’s main shareholders has not officially received any offer from this American group for its shares and is not aware of a withdrawal or reversal thereof.
It is also not easy to know the exact debt of Seville. Its president, José María del Nido Carrasco, estimated the net debt at 66 million euros and the club presented losses of 50 million at the last general assembly on December 15. It is possible that the analysis of the entity’s accounts revealed more losses.
In addition to this American offer, another came from the Sevillian businessman Antonio Lappi, which was notified on this occasion to all the main shareholders of the club and which was rejected by all because it was considered insufficient economically. Lappi’s offer amounted to 2,490 euros per share, payable in two installments. 60% upon signature of the purchase of the shares and the remaining 40% after in-depth analysis of the Seville accounts. This Sevillian offer, called Third Way in the Andalusian capital, remains on hold. Lappi was aware of the difficulty for a group to be able to pay 3,500 euros for each Sevillian action without fully knowing the economic reality of the club.
Bayern and Monchi
The emergence of Sergio Ramos presents an important new piece on the board. As highlighted yesterday Radio Sevillefrom Cadena SER, the camera has the money to undertake the operation. Although it has not been revealed which investors would still accompany the footballer. Amid the greatest secrecy and in an operation that has many nuances, some large shareholders welcome the appearance of Ramos and others still have no official record of the presentation of an offer. The club also does not offer the slightest official information on movements which, it is said, concern its shareholders and not the functioning of the entity itself.
With Lappi on hold and Ramos in the race, the option of Sevilla ending up in the hands of foreign capital seems a little more remote. If this were to happen, the mere presence of Ramos as a representative or spearhead of foreign capital would calm the minds of the social mass of Seville. At least at the beginning, but not completely, since the figure of Ramos still sows a certain division in Sévillismo after his confrontation with the Biris in January 2017 after being whistled by a good part of the field every time he walked on the Sánchez Pizjuán with the Madrid jersey. An almost complete reconciliation was forged during the 2023-24 season, when Ramos donned the Sevilla uniform for the second time after his departure for Madrid in the summer of 2005. The world champion, however, only lasted one season in Seville in the face of an increasingly unstable sporting and institutional scenario. Even Quique Sánchez Flores, his last coach at the Andalusian club, dared to define his farewell in the summer of 2024. “I did not want to participate in a catastrophic situation,” said the coach.
With the possibility of a Ramos in the box in a role that has not yet been defined, there would be the intention to relaunch the model of Bayern Munich, with great players like Karl Heinz Rummenige in the management of the club representing the ownership capital of the entity. A formula which, without a doubt, would attenuate the reluctance towards foreign money as the property of Seville. Supporters fear that the arrival of funds without links to the city or Sevilla’s past will repeat the failed experiences of clubs like Valencia or Malaga. Ramos, who has yet to officially announce his retirement from football after leaving Rayados de Monterrey, would not be able to play in Sevilla or the League as an owner because that is what Spanish law dictates.
“It’s a subject I don’t get involved in. I respect Sergio as a player and as a man; he’s a world-class legend,” first-team coach Matías Almeyda said yesterday when asked about Ramos.
There is also one last important point in this whole Sevilla sale mess and that is Monchi’s role. Linked by Lappi’s candidacy, the possible appearance of Monchi in Ramos’ project is reinforced in Seville. Ramos and the famous sporting director are united by a professional relationship in the management of San Fernando, the Cádiz club originating from Monchi’s hometown and where he now devotes himself after leaving Aston Villa. Many of San Fernando’s players come from the agency of René Ramos, Sergio’s brother, who is also an important figure in the world champion’s affairs.
Silence was Monchi’s response when this media asked him if Ramos’ candidacy had contacted him. Sevilla’s recent model of success has been understood among the big families of the club’s government, always with Monchi in the sporting direction. He is responsible for these successes between 2006 and 2023.
With or without Ramos and with Monchi in the rearguard, the sale of Sevilla has become complete gibberish. Even if the transfer to foreign capital now seems more distant.
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