Ramos's mum says 'Sergio wants to stay in Madrid'

Paqui Garcia was tracked down by reporters from Spain's Chiringuito TV and asked about her son's future - a question which is one of the hottest topics in football at the moment.

And while the latest news leaked from the player's camp had suggested that he had asked Real Madrid to let him join Manchester United, his mother poured cold water on that suggestion saying, "He wants to stay in Madrid."

Here's the clip, as shared by the station via Twitter:

Ramos's mother appears to have been told not to say anything, as at first she tried to get away.

"I can't tell you anything, I'm in a hurry, I have to go now," she said, before apparently being trapped into answering a second question by her own politeness.

"Do you think he'd like to stay at Real Madrid?" the reporter asked.

"Absolutely," said Paqui. "At Madrid above all else.

"And Manchester?" came the next question.

"No," said the player's mother, with a scowl. "I don't think so.

"He loves Spain."

And with a cheery thank you, she drove off.

It's hard to know quite what to make of a middle aged woman being ambushed by a TV crew in this manner. Would Ramos have told her everything that is going on with his transfer? Possibly, but possibly not. Yet there is something refreshingly naive about her responses which makes us wonder if there is some truth in this - particularly in her initial attempts to deflect the line of questioning.

And there's another aspect: given the success of Dani Alves in pretending to want to leave Barcelona in order to land a nice new contract, plenty of people suspect Ramos of doing the same thing. Indeed, the results of the poll we've been running today suggest that nearly 60% of you think that he has no intention of going anywhere - except to the bank, laughing, when he lands a hefty new pay deal.

One thing is for sure: when a player's mother starts getting grabbed by reporters as she's off to do her shopping, you know a transfer has reached fever pitch.