Manchester United target Sergio Ramos handed Real Madrid captaincy but contract talks stall

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos will be handed the captain's armband but his contract impasse with the club shows no sign of being resolved, according to Marca.

Manchester United remain interested in bringing the Spain international to Old Trafford and are able to offer to player a salary of €11m (£8m, $12m) a season according to the Spanish newspaper, one Real are not prepared to stretch to.

The future of David de Gea could be decisive in settling the matter, with United adamant a deal will only be struck if Ramos and goalkeeper Keylor Navas move in the other direction, the same publication reported on 11 July.

They now suggest Ramos has not received any indication that the club will revise their contract offer and remains intent on leaving the club. But in the meantime, the 29-year-old will captain the side as they begin their pre-season campaign in Australia following Iker Casillas's move to Porto.

The report adds the relationship between Ramos and Real president Florentino Perez is now so strained that manager Rafa Benitez must now act as a mediator to ensure the defender has any chance of remaining at the club.

United launched a £28.6m bid for Ramos in late June, according to BBC Sport, but there has been no indication that Real are willing to accept that offer.

Perez remains coy on the future of the long-serving Spaniard but did indicate players who want to leave the Santiago Bernabeu will be allowed to do so. "The players who are under contract and leave, it is because they want to," Perez told reporters, Marca report.

"Then there are players who are under contract and leave, and others who the club don't want to leave. Those players will not depart."

Following Casillas's departure from the Spanish capital, Ramos becomes the club's longest-serving player, having spent the last 10 years of his career at the club after leaving Sevilla in 2005.