Benitez expecting Ramos to stay

Real Madrid can sign Manchester United star David de Gea only if they include Sergio Ramos as part of a swap deal, according to the BBC.

There is an acknowledgement at United of what De Gea’s heroics were worth to the club last season in terms of points and there is a belief that he could prove equally valuable next season, if he ends up staying.

I’m surprised enough that United are willing to pay above £40m for Ramos but I’d be majorly stunned if they agreed to pay £62m for a 29-year-old defender, so unless Madrid lower their demands I don’t see a deal happening.

United made a £28.6million bid for the Spanish global defender in June, with Sky sources understanding Ramos wanted to leave the Bernabeu and head to Old Trafford. With Benitez adamant that Ramos is going nowhere, there appears to somewhat of a standstill between the two clubs – a power struggle, in some respects.

Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez is ready to share his ideas with Cristiano Ronaldo as he plots the club’s quest for silverware this season.

United boss Louis van Gaal is said to be “relaxed” about the De Gea situation, mainly because he has a contingency plan in place if the Spaniard leaves.

“The president (Florentino Perez) has already commented that he is staying with the club”. Manchester United’s defense was their biggest weakness past year and the signing of Sergio Ramos would not only help them defensively, it would help them on set pieces.

Real have reinforced their squad with the signings of Danilo, who signed from Porto, and Lucas Vazquez, who has returned from Espanyol after Real exercised his buyback clause.

Van Gaal is likely to hand Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Matteo Darmian and Morgan Schneiderlin their debuts against Mexican side Club America.

Rafa Benitez has hailed Sergio Ramos’ professionalism in light of speculation about his future and believes he can be a “great” Real Madrid captain.

Goal quote the former Liverpool chief as saying: “De Gea is not our player at the moment and that is not our subject at the moment. If we improve our roster even more, I will be happy”, he added.