Sergio Ramos said he expects to win a Grammy Award before lifting the Champions League as a coach.
The Real Madrid and Spain great released his debut single on Sunday called Cibeles, named after the statue where Madrid celebrate their trophies.
Defender Ramos, 39, now captains Liga MX club Monterrey — starting in last weekend’s 4-2 win at Puebla — but still found time to record his first song.
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Speaking in an interview with Spanish TV’s El Hormiguero on Monday, Ramos confirmed that the song’s lyrics deal with his departure from Madrid in 2021 — and said he’s confident of winning a Grammy, one of music’s top prizes, before lifting the Champions League as a manager.
“I’m an optimist,” Ramos said. “I always tell people to dream… I see myself with both, winning a Champions League as a coach, but I see myself winning a Grammy in the next few years, before [that].”
“I feel like making music at this stage of my life, I want to bring the experiences I’ve had to people. In the next 5-7 years I see myself more involved in music, because music allows you to compose, and to be at home … You can make music, do your job and also dedicate time to your family.”
Ramos captained Madrid, winning 22 trophies and featuring in some iconic moments — such as his 93rd-minute UCL final goal against Atlético Madrid in 2014 — before leaving in 2021, when the club withdrew its offer of a new contract.
The former Spain international then joined Paris Saint-Germain, before spending a season at boyhood club Sevilla, and then moving to Monterrey earlier this year.
“There are things I never told you, that still hurt me,” the lyrics to Cibeles read. “I never wanted to leave… I hope things go well for you, although I feel bad without you. It’s a good thing I left, because you didn’t treat me the same.”
“You forgot about me, you left me to one side,” the lyrics continue. “Without being able to decide, that’s what hurts me most.”
“It’s a love song. What relationship doesn’t involve pain and suffering?” Ramos said on Monday. “When I went to Paris I wrote 60% of the song, because I felt that way. It hurts. Nobody likes leaving the biggest club in the world.
“Songs are about moments. It’s coming out four years after I started composing it. But there’s no relationship without pain and suffering, and that’s reflected there. It’s a love song, everything has a beginning and an end … When you leave Madrid it hurts. You become part of the past.”
The single’s video features Ramos standing in a deserted Cibeles — usually a busy roundabout in the centre of Madrid — before he is confronted by a white horse.
Later in the clip, the statue begins to crumble and collapse, along with the nearby Madrid town hall.
Ramos — who has home studios at his houses in Seville and Madrid — said his new direction is the culmination of a lifelong interest in music.
“It’s a way of life. At any meeting, a birthday, at Christmas, we all end up singing, with a guitar,” he said. “It’s been a part of my whole life, but football has never allowed me to dedicate the time to it that music demands.
“At this time in life I’d like to combine it with football, to make that transition in the short term, and make good music with the best people and trying to convey to people a part of me, feelings and experiences I’ve had.”