Going back to their roots

During his heyday Sergio Ramos would not have won many popularity contests outside his own club’s fanbase. As an exponent of the dark arts Ramos was irascible, spiky and often infuriating in his on field behaviour. His career was littered with various misdemeanours, including 28 red cards, 20 of which he received in La Liga – a record for individual dismissals. However, Ramos’ return to his hometown club, Sevilla has brought the 37-year-old Spaniard universal acclaim. At his emotional homecoming he outlined his motivation. “It wasn’t a matter of money or a contract but a question of philosophy, mentality, feeling. At Sevilla we come together in these values.” 

In light of so many high profile players moving to the Saudi league in the last few months, it was refreshing to see somebody eschewing the riches on offer to return to the club where it all started for him. Ramos joined Sevilla at the age of six, spending seven years at the academy before graduating to senior football with Sevilla’s B team Atletico from where he  moved to the first team, making his debut in 2004. The following season he joined Real Madrid where he spent the majority of his career, with almost 700 appearances for Los Blancos. After a couple of seasons at PSG he has returned to Sevilla, 18 years after leaving. 

Having picked up five La Liga titles and four Champions League wins at the Bernabeu and a couple of Ligue Un titles with PSG, as well as the World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, Ramos is serial trophy winner. Even though he joins a Sevilla team who started the season with three straight defeats (they won their first match 1-0 on his debut), he is not lacking in ambition. “I had the opportunity to return home, do it as a leader with the hope of lifting a title. I wake up every day for this goal, I believe we can do it. We know it is very difficult, but the first thing we can do is believe in it.” 

Ramos is the latest in a line of players who have gone back to the club of their youth to bookend their illustrious careers. Carlos Tevez went back to Boca Juniors not once but twice after spending the majority of his career in Europe. Tevez’s return was very much like his career, an explosive mixture of controversy and success. During his second stint at Boca the club won the domestic league and cup double but after only 18 months he joined the plethora of players attracted to China in the mid-2010s. Another Boca returnee Diego Maradona was scathing over his move to Shanghai “He filled Santa’s sack with dollars and now he has returned to Boca.” His Chinese adventure lasted only twelve months before he was back at The Bombonera and in his third spell at the club aged 34, he helped them to a pair of Primera Division titles in 2018 and 2020.

Fellow Argentine international Ángel Di María decided against the lure of the Saudi league recently when he opted to return to his first European club, Benfica, whom he joined from his boyhood club Rosario in 2007. Benfica won the Portuguese title in 2009/10, his last season, before he went on to play for four of Europe’s top clubs Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus and PSG. At the age of 35, in what is likely to be Di Maria’s last move, he was adamant that money was not going to be his main motivation. “They called me from Saudi Arabia. I had many calls from them. The numbers they are offering are crazy, but I chose with my heart. I wanted to return to Benfica.” 

Benfica’s President, the former Portuguese midfielder Rui Costa, who started and ended his career at the Estádio da Luz, confirmed that during negotiations finances were the last thing on his mind – “Di María’s salary doesn’t go over the salary cap. He came without any signing bonus. He didn’t want to know what his salary would be. He didn’t even ask for another euro. He just told me: ‘I really want to play for Benfica for any euro you’ll give me’”. Di Mária has been quick out of the blocks in his second spell, scoring in five out of his six outings,  including in his first game back, the Portuguese Supercup victory over Porto. 

Like Di María, Santi Cazorla was a free transfer this summer, when he moved to Real Oviedo some twenty years after leaving for Villareal. Having spent the last three years playing in Qatar for Al Sadd, the Spanish midfielder is moving in the opposite direction to the likes of Neymar, Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema as he returns to Europe from the Gulf. In recognition of his debt to the club where he started, Cazorla’s deal included waiving his image rights, with the academy set to benefit from 10% of all shirt sales. 

This is not the first time that Cazorla has helped out the club financially. In 2012/13, alongside former players Juan Mata and Michu, he bought shares in the club to rescue it from looming bankruptcy after a disastrous slide down the leagues had led to them plying their trade in Tercera, Spain’s fourth tier. They have since climbed back up to the second tier Segunda and Cazorla will be hoping he can help them regain their La Liga status which they relinquished in 2001 when he was still at the club as a 16 year-old.

The Spanish midfielder also agreed to being paid the lowest earnings possible on his return. “I didn’t come (to Oviedo) to earn money. If I could play for free I would, but because of La Liga rules I have to earn a minimum wage. The club made me a fairly acceptable offer, but I rejected it. I didn’t come for money, I came out of excitement and to give everything. It’s my club and I want to help. That’s why I put in those conditions, they accepted it and helped me make it so it will help the academy and the club.”

In speaking about the connection with his local club and city Cazorla was unequivocal about his priorities. “When I was a 9-year-old boy I had the dream of playing in my city, with my people and with my family,” Cazorla said. “I had the objective of fulfilling it and it is a challenge that must be accepted. I want to live this experience and be with my people. It was a very easy decision in that regard. A lot of people may think I have a lot to lose and nothing to gain, but for me it’s the opposite.” 

While some suggest you should never go back, Di Mária, Cazorla and Ramos will be going out to prove that it can work out for the best when the primary reason behind the move is a heartfelt desire rather than for financial gain. Ramos will be hoping that his return to Sevilla will engender a further rise in the popularity stakes.