A consortium led by ex-Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has reached an agreement in principle worth around €444million to buy his boyhood club Sevilla.
Ramos, 40, is the public face of a group backed by the Five Eleven fund that entered a three-month period of exclusivity to acquire the relegation-threatened La Liga side in January.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations, kept anonymous to preserve relationships, have revealed that an agreement in principle for €444m was reached on Tuesday after finishing the due diligence and negotiations with shareholders that lasted between eight and 10 hours on Monday.
The deadline to complete the purchase is expected to fall around late May or early June, with sources confirming the consortium needs to provide the required capital to move forward, though a financial guarantee has been presented.
The Athletic reported in January that the takeover was subject to due diligence to analyse the financial health of the club, after uncertainty about the valuation of Sevilla’s debt — which could be around €180m according to club sources — pending an external audit commissioned by the bidders.
Club sources, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to do so, have told The Athletic that the net debt is estimated around €90million, and this amount would need to be deducted from the final price. Sevilla’s finances have worsened in recent years, with 2023-24 losses of €81.8m, and if they were to be relegated to the Seguda Division, the club’s value is estimated to drop by around 20-30 per cent.
Sevilla are 13th in La Liga, three points above the relegation zone with three games remaining of the 2025-26 campaign.
Ramos made his first team debut for Sevilla in February 2004 and returned to the club in 2023 following 16 years at Madrid and two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain. The 2010 World Cup winner made 87 appearances for Sevilla during his two spells at the club and has been a free agent since leaving Mexican club Monterrey in December.
Guillermo Rai Guillermo began his career covering Real Madrid and the sports industry for Diario AS. He later moved to London and became AS and Cadena Ser correspondent. He has since returned to Madrid and joins us at The Athletic where he will deliver Real Madrid news, interviews, stories, and more.
