Manchester United: Planning 'Monster Offer' For Real Madrid Defender

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, left.
Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, April 26. Ramos has been linked again with a transfer to Manchester United. Shaun Botterill/Getty

Manchester United and Sergio Ramos came close to linking arms with each other during the summer of 2015.

Real Madrid defender Ramos eventually opted to remain in the Spanish capital, later revealing that United, then under the management of Louis Van Gaal, had made him a massive contract offer of £150,000 ($194,735) a week.

Ramos, 30, said in the spring of 2016 that he wanted to retire at Real Madrid. But United is under different management now, with Jose Mourinho at the helm, and circumstances in the mazy world of major-money transfers are ever fluid.

Calciomercato, the Italian football website, claims United is prepared to make a "monster offer" for Ramos worth £42 million ($54.5 million).

Mourinho was believed to be searching for another central defender in the latter stages of the summer transfer window, with Southampton's Jose Fonte high on his list. Eric Bailly, his main defensive signing of the summer, and Ramos would form a formidable partnership.

The United manager has funds to spend in January, but only if a huge target becomes available. Ramos would fit that billing. Perhaps United's first dalliance with the Spaniard was not its last.

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