“It’s like being invited into Sergio’s living room,” The Athletic is told, as the tour of the Sergio Ramos by John Reed gym in Madrid begins.
At reception, four huge, scaled and horned dragons seem to spring from the ceiling. In the dressing rooms, a large gold lion with wings stands proudly atop the steel lockers.
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Entering the gym itself — a cavernous space within Madrid’s Moncloa metro station — giant red lizards scale the walls. Deeper inside, behind the rows of running machines, sand-coloured statues of mythical horse-like creatures dance. Snakes, bulls and angel wings are also visible among the punching bags and rowing machines. There are throbbing beats, black curtains, and red lighting everywhere.
“People say it’s like a museum… or a casino,” says the tour guide.
The Athletic visited in late January for many reasons. One is professional curiosity, given the former Real Madrid captain’s new team Paris Saint-Germain are soon due at the Bernabeu for a Champions League last-16 second leg. Another is to consider actually becoming a member. A third is just fascination with what being invited into Ramos’ life would be like.
“I have been involved down to the smallest detail,” Ramos himself said in December when he presented the “boutique” gym to the media. “In every corner, my passions are reflected — art, horses; symbols that, for me, are passions and motivating. In all these details, we have thought and designed everything, down to the colours on the floor, and everything has a meaning. I hope the people who come feel just as identified as I do. There is a lot of work behind it.”
Ramos’ partner in all this is RSG, a German group with 18 gym brands, including the McFit chain, which claims over six million members in 48 countries worldwide.
The footballer says RSG founder Rainer Schaller is “a personal friend” who approached him about the idea of working together. Ramos is not just a brand ambassador. He is an investor who has put his own money into the project.
“This was a plan that I had for many years,” said Ramos at December’s presentation, and it is certainly true that fitness and exercise have been a huge part of his life during almost two decades playing at the top level.
Every day, while winning four Champions Leagues with Real Madrid and 180 senior caps for Spain, Ramos has done his required training with the team, and then personal workouts on top. “He has his own routines and dedicates a lot — a lot — of time to working on his body each day; his gym work, his physios, his sauna, pool, hyperbaric chamber,” says a source who knows him.
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Throughout his career, the Andalusian has been interested in ideas and technologies that could help him become fitter and stronger. As far back as 2015, he showed his Instagram followers the NASA-developed anti-gravity system he was using while recovering from a minor muscle injury.
In 2017, Ramos and his wife Pilar Rubio spent €12 million on a house in Madrid’s exclusive La Moraleja district. A state-of-the-art home gym was, of course, a priority, along with an ample home cinema and trophy room. The property also has two swimming pools and the aforementioned hyperbaric chamber — an immersive pressure capsule, more often used by deep-sea divers, that increases the amount of oxygen in your blood to help speed up recovery.
When speaking to people who know Ramos or have worked with him in the past, most mention how important such physical prowess is to his own sense of self.
“The physical sacrifice of a top footballer is impressive,” says one source who has visited Ramos’ house but does not work in sport. “He showed me all his cold plunges (pools), what he does to himself physically to remain at the top of his game. I remember giving him an embrace and I have never felt a back as concrete as his. For me, he is like a modern-day icon, a gladiator.”
This personal obsession with physical fitness can be seen in Ramos’ two Amazon documentary series: 2019’s The Heart of Sergio Ramos and 2021’s The Legend of Sergio Ramos.
Whenever speaking about one of his many interests — football, horses, modern art or flamenco music — he is often shown running on a treadmill or lifting weights. It is claimed that he sometimes could spend 10 hours a day in some kind of fitness or recovery work. Wife Pilar is also often in the gym and they even design workouts for their four children.
“I am convinced that Sergio suspects he is immortal,” says former Real Madrid player, coach and director Jorge Valdano in one episode, over more images of Ramos working out intently in the gym. Even his friend, tennis star Rafa Nadal, who knows a lot about coming back from injuries, talks in the documentary about how well Ramos looks after himself.
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The challenge of overcoming injuries and prolonging his career is a big storyline of the second documentary series, recorded during the 2020-21 season, which turned out to be his last with Real Madrid.
The documentary-makers generally skirt around how Ramos is unable to actually play much football during those months but some introspection over what is happening does seep out.
“I’m going to be 33 soon — Jesus’s age. So I have to start thinking about the future,” Ramos says at one point.
“When you are at the top, when you have money, you must use what you have learned, and your intelligence, to know how to manage it,” says Ramos in another episode of one of his Amazon documentaries. “We have a very short career. It ends and the money ends, too, so you have to look for other business models, other sources of income for tomorrow.”
Ramos and his family have been very focused on the business side right from the start.
In 2004, a company called Sermos 32 SL was established to manage his image rights, with 32 being the teenager’s Sevilla shirt number at the time. When he made a big-money move to Real Madrid the following year, his agent was the well-established Pedro Bravo — 2005 was also the year that Ramos’ older brother Rene became an official FIFA agent and it was he who soon took over managing his sibling’s career.
RR-Soccer Management has expanded with other clients over the years, including current Real Madrid club captain Marcelo, as well as former Bernabeu youth-teamers Oscar Rodriguez (a midfielder currently on loan from Sevilla at Madrid club Getafe) and Luca Zidane (son of Sergio’s former Bernabeu team-mate and coach Zinedine), a goalkeeper at Rayo Vallecano, another team in the Spanish capital. Even after Ramos left Real Madrid last summer to join Paris Saint-Germain on a Bosman, the agency continues to work with the club. Client Alberto Toril was appointed coach of its women’s team in November 2021.
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The Ramos family have top advisors, including lawyer Julio Senn, a former Real Madrid director-general from 1999 to 2002, who has also helped other huge former Madrid stars who have had lucrative off-the-pitch careers, such as the Brazilian Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo. “These are people with the best knowledge and the best contacts in Spain,” says an industry source.
Profiting from the Ramos brand should not have been that difficult, especially as Pilar is also a celebrity due to her successful modelling and TV presenting career. However, while the family have done deals with partners including Nike, Hugo Boss, Pepsi and Gatorade, he has not been able to extend a global reach in the same say as former team-mates he would consider peers such as David Beckham or Andres Iniesta.
Numerous sources consulted by The Athletic said that it was not always easy to deal with what is known as “Mundo Ramos” or “Clan Ramos”, also including father Jose Maria and mother Paqui. “They have been able to manage Sergio’s career — they have experience of many years — and have succeeded in negotiating many very good contracts,” says another industry source. “But I would do things a different way.”
“You can take the boy out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the boy,” says another source who has done business with the family. “And Ramos has brought his village with him — his brother is his agent, his father is always around.”
The image is different to that of his former Spain central defensive colleague Gerard Pique, who has built a very successful second career in business with his Kosmos investment vehicle, in which Japanese billionaire media entrepreneur Hiroshi Mikitani is a partner.
“Pique is a guy who has that curiosity for the world of technology and innovation,” says a source who knows both players. “Ramos is more that his advisors ask him if he wants to invest in property or have a chain of gyms, and he goes along with it.”
One project that is certainly close to Ramos’ heart is his Yeguada SR4 stud farm, located half an hour from Seville at Bollullos de la Mitacion. Among the 50 horses stabled over its 44 hectares is a grey called Yucatan de Ramos, which was named World Champion Spanish Thoroughbred in the Andalusian capital in November 2018, with Ramos present to celebrate, having missed a Spain friendly due to a minor injury.
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Even more successful is the mare Alamo, one of the world’s top showjumping horses, which is joint-owned by Ramos with top Spanish rider Sergio Alvarez Moya and reportedly cost €1.5 million. Alamo and Moya came eighth in last year’s Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT), winning prize money of almost half a million euros.
Yeguada SR4 is another family affair. Its director is Carlos Muela, who is married to Ramos’ sister Miriam. According to the documentaries, Sergio speaks to Muela every day and is minutely interested in the studs’ progress. Although breeding champion horses can be a profitable business, the stud farm is thought to be more of a hobby than a profitable business.
Property has always been more important for the Ramos’ family future, with father Jose Maria a driving figure.
In 2014, they opened a €10 million multi-storey car park of 684 spaces in Marbella, having been granted permission to build on the city-centre site by agreeing to also construct a sports centre with four padel courts (a racket sport similar to tennis and squash), a basketball court and skating rink.
More problematic was the involvement, along with supermarket chain Eroski, in the development of an old “finca” — or ranch — to the south of Madrid called La Fortuna.
The plan was to build 22,000 apartments on the 500,000 square metres, with the first buildings at “Los Berrocales” to be completed by 2022. That project was hit by both planning difficulties and Spain’s banking crash. In March 2020, ownership of the site passed to the American investment fund Blackstone.
There have also been problems with the plan to build an upmarket shopping centre in the Seville district of Espartinas. Ramos presented the €3-million project “El Marquesado” in 2013, which was to create 100 jobs, but it never came to pass.
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Spanish press reports have claimed that the Ramos’ family suffered losses of up to €60 million due to such property investments which have not paid off.
“Like everything in life, you get involved in projects and some work out better than others,” says a source who knows Ramos when asked about the losses the family incurred. “Sergio is always in the public glare and has had to grow a tough skin, but he is a very straightforward person. He has his principles and he is always looking to learn new things, in all aspects of his life.”
As the value of the Ramos’ family investments were falling, his football career was also hit some turbulence.
In May 2019, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez publicly embarrassed his club’s captain by telling a radio show he had rejected Ramos’ request for permission to accept a lucrative offer from an unnamed Chinese club.
This was the background to the high-stakes manoeuvring during the final phase of Ramos’ time at the Bernabeu. All through the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, the defender kept stating that his desire was to finish his playing career at Madrid but talks between his agent/brother Rene and Perez about extending his deal never really progressed.
Meanwhile, Ramos’ body was letting him down at the worst moment. He tried to manage a knee problem picked up in October last year but by February, it required an operation. Different muscle niggles also meant he played just four games in the last five months of his final Madrid season. This made it easier for Perez to withdraw an offer of a new contract on reduced terms, a move that shocked both the Ramos brothers. “It was a decision of the club. Florentino decided if he would continue or not,” says a source.
Even still, as national team captain, Ramos expected Spain coach Luis Enrique to name him in the squad for last summer’s European Championship. But Enrique felt he had been misled about the defender’s injuries, and made the controversial call not to include him. Again, it was Ramos’ physical fitness — on which he so prides himself — which had caused the problem.
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Meanwhile, “Clan Ramos” had also found themselves without a sportswear partner. After wearing Nike boots for over a decade, their deal ran out in November 2020, one of a number of high-profile players dropped by the US company during the pandemic (including Robert Lewandowski and Thiago).
Although Spanish media reports claimed that Adidas, Under Armour, Puma and New Balance were all “fighting for his signature”, Ramos went over a year without an official partner. Last month, Japanese supplier Mizuno took the opportunity but it is understood that they do not have the resources of the bigger industry leaders.
“In summer 2021, Sergio Ramos was the only player at his level who ended up without a contract with a club, nor a contract with a sports brand,” says an industry source who has negotiated with the Ramos family in the past. “This was a shock to the system for both the player and those around him.”
It was around then that Amazon’s cameras were showing Ramos and his brother meeting John Reed executives to finalise the deal for their gym in Madrid.
“There’s always a chance it can go badly. Not all business ventures always go well but at least we want the intention from the start to be looking for success,” Ramos says about the project in one documentary episode. “That’s the same way I take on my profession.”
Just a week after his association with Madrid formally ended, Ramos was presented as a PSG player on a two-year deal which pays around €10 million after tax per season. That was slightly less than he had been on at the Bernabeu but more than the “lower” offer that Perez had withdrawn (if it was ever really seriously offered).
Ramos’ family, so settled in the Spanish capital and still so connected to Seville, had to quickly move into a new phase of their life in northern France. A source who knows them said that getting used to life in Paris was a challenge, especially with four children aged between seven years and 12 months old. However, they have taken it on, found a suitable house to rent, and settled into their new city.
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Evidence for this came in late January, when Ramos and his wife attended the Louis Vuitton show during Paris Fashion Week along with other celebrities, including Naomi Campbell and singer J Balvin.
More difficult has been Ramos’ continued failure to get fit enough to play for his new club.
A calf muscle problem saw him miss the first 19 games of PSG’s season. Then, when he finally made his Ligue 1 debut in late November, he picked up another muscular issue. When that appeared sorted, the calf complaint returned. He made the most recent of just four appearances to date for PSG — in one of which he got sent off — on January 23.
This has generated plenty of frustration — on both sides. PSG sporting director Leonardo has found himself having to defend his decision to offer free-agent Ramos a lucrative contract, and also his club’s medical staff.
One source close to the PSG dressing room wonders whether Ramos’ issue is now “in his head” after so long without being able to get properly fit. However, others who know him say the Ramos they knew at Madrid would never lack the required commitment or work rate.
“Sergio is not like (Gareth) Bale or (Eden) Hazard; he always looks after himself, always trains as hard as he can, like a beast,” says a source close to the Madrid dressing room.
PSG being drawn against his former club in the Champions League last 16 was perhaps unfortunate (PSG bring a 1-0 lead to Madrid for the second leg on Wednesday). “Fate is very capricious. I’d have preferred Manchester United,” Ramos said with a smile during the December visit to his gym in Madrid, which came in the one moment when he was playing games for PSG.
Back at the Bernabeu, there has been plenty of sympathy for a figure who is still liked and respected by most around the club.
“Nobody is happy about Ramos’ situation, just the opposite,” says another source close to a long-term former team-mate at the Bernabeu. “The worst for a fellow footballer is to be injured and not able to do their job. Ramos was a team-mate but more than that, a friend. It hurts them.”
PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed on Friday that Ramos would be included in the travelling party for this week’s decider at the Bernabeu, although only for his experience and the advice he can give team-mates. It will be a bittersweet occasion for him and for many Real Madrid fans, although an emotional hug from club president Perez seems unlikely.
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There are also doubts about whether he will make it into the second year of his contract. Unless he manages to play regularly in the next few months, another move for the player and his family looks the most likely. Spanish press reports have mentioned the LA Galaxy of MLS as a possible destination but it is thought to be too early yet for the defender to consider such options.
“Sergio has signed for two years at PSG, and that remains his focus,” says a source. “He has gone to Paris to win trophies and is still focused on that. It depends a bit on how happy both sides are, so we will see, but his head is still centred on returning to play, getting fully fit again, and performing at his best for PSG.”
Even though Ramos turns 36 this month and has played just nine games over the past year, retirement is not being considered. Neither do his camp think that all the punishing work in the gym over the years might have contributed to his succession of injury problems now he’s into his 30s. Rather, they argue that keeping in such great general shape means he should be able to prolong his career once he finally regains full fitness. “There is no better project or business than continuing his professional playing career,” says a source.
It is perhaps relevant that plans for further Sergio Ramos by John Reed gyms in Seville, Paris or the United States have been discussed. Also, in 2020, RSG acquired the Gold’s Gym brand, a global chain that grew out of a gym on Venice Beach in Los Angeles where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou ‘The Incredible Hulk’ Ferrigno once trained. With potential synergies abound, California could be an ideal receptor for Ramos’ Andalusian dreams of snakes, lions and horses.
Nobody is suggesting that Ramos will make any future career moves based on where he can next open a gym, but both the player and those around him have always been well aware of their value, even as not all their commercial ventures have worked out as hoped.
The links between Ramos’ football and business interests, and the connection between his individual physical fitness and his family’s financial future are not over yet.
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)
