Sergio Ramos has asked to leave Real Madrid on a free transfer, club president confirms

Real Madrid's captain wants out

Sergio Ramos has asked to be allowed to leave Real Madrid on a free transfer to join a Chinese club,  president Florentino Perez has confirmed. Perez claims that Ramos and his agent spoke to him and said he had received a "very good deal from China," but "they could not pay a transfer fee because of rules there." However, the club is not willing to let their captain and highest earner leave on a free transfer given he has two years remaining on his contract. According to The Mirror, the 33-year-old defender's buy-out clause currently stands at £171 million. Perez said: "Sergio's is currently the highest deal at Madrid, before that it was Cristiano, and now we have a scale for our pay packet—the highest earner is based on merit, the same is true for Sergio. "He did not ask that we release him now, but I informed him that this plan for China was not possible, and the truth is that I love him like a son. "Rene Ramos [the brother and agent of Sergio] can tell you everything, we have a very close relationship, and Sergio is held in high esteem here. "We will not allow him to leave, we refer interested clubs to his clause—there is nothing else to say."