Real Madrid have rejected Manchester United’s opening £32m bid for Sergio Ramos, leaving the defender anxious to get his possible move to Old Trafford resolved within two weeks, to prevent him being dragged into the Spanish club’s long haul pre-season tour with his future still unclear.

United made an unexpected straight opening bid to Madrid for Ramos, offering a straight sum with no David de Gea deal attached. But as of this afternoon no bid has been received by United for De Gea from the Spanish side and with the Old Trafford club’s Ramos starting offer now rejected, there is clearly work to do.

Ramos – who has now left the Bernabeu on holiday ahead of the squad’s July 10 date to reassemble for the tour – is anxious for progress.

If the situation remains unresolved, Ramos could find himself flying to Australia on July 11 – facing Roma and Manchester City in mid-July – then heading on to China where Madrid play a further two games, against Inter Milan in Guangzhou and AC Milan in Shanghai.

It is the Spanish side’s first visit to China for four years and the last thing Florentino Perez will want in the series of choreographed media appearances is a disgruntled Ramos in the frame – and all of the attendant negative publicity. New manager Rafael Benitez does not want his first weeks in charge to be consumed by a media storm around Ramos, either.

The purpose of Ramos’ visit to Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground yesterday was to clear his locker for the summer, as well as meet chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez with his brother and agent Rene Ramos. There was no breakthrough in the talks before Ramos left for his break.

United are convinced that Ramos' words and actions during an intense week at his club reveal that he is genuinely interested in joining them and is not involved in a game of bluff, designed to engineer a new contract. There will now be a two-week cooling off period, when the level of Ramos’ desire to leave for United will be put to the test.

Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Show all 11 1 /11 Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Paul Scholes' Team of the Season David De Gea - Manchester United The outstanding keeper in the league. He has saved United so many points along the way. An easy choice to make. Getty Images Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Branislav Ivanovic - Chelsea This is a man who knows how to defend. He is not the quickest but he gets in position and he has that nasty streak that all good defenders have. Chips in with goals. GETTY IMAGES Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Jose Fonte - Southampton He has had a really good season after a summer when team-mates, Dejan Lovren especially, had gone elsewhere. He has come to the fore with Southampton, a late developer now 31. GETTY IMAGES Paul Scholes' Team of the Season John Terry - Chelsea Another solid 38 games. He gets a lot of protection from Nemanja Matic but there is no questioning his importance to Chelsea. His experience helped get them over the line. Getty Images Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Ryan Bertrand - Southampton He just beats Cesar Azpilicueta. The Chelsea man is an excellent defender. Bertrand gets in ahead by virtue of his attacking ability, and the fact that he’s left-footed. GETTY IMAGES Paul Scholes' Team of the Season David Silva - Manchester City A hard choice, given how well Alexis Sanchez has done in his first season. I just love the way that Silva plays the game. Not his greatest season, but such quality when he does play well. GETTY IMAGES Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Cesc Fabregas - Chelsea He has not been out of the world, but when you look at his passing stats they show he has been one of the most influential. There’s no one better in the league at what he does. GETTY IMAGES Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Nemanja Matic - Chelsea For the most part he has done a brilliant job for Chelsea. He tailed off a bit towards the end but, at his best, does a great job of allowing Fabregas to play and protecting the defence. GETTY IMAGES Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Eden Hazard - Chelsea There is still more to come from this man. He could get up to the mid-twenties in terms of his league goals. Nevertheless, he has been the standout player in the country. Getty Images Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Sergio Aguero - Manchester City There is still more to come from this man. He could get up to the mid-twenties in terms of his league goals. Nevertheless, he has been the standout player in the country. AFP/Getty Images Paul Scholes' Team of the Season Harry Kane - Tottenham A great achievement to score 21 league goals when his first start in the competition came on 9 November. A player with so much determination. Getty Images

This morning’s Spanish newspapers revealed the way that each of the two sides in the escalating dispute between Madrid president Florentino Perez and Ramos is being championed by a newspaper. The pro-Perez Marca totally ignored the story of Ramos’ discontent, even on Monday – the day that Ramos publicly indicated that he wanted to leave. The pattern continued today with the suggestion that there might be some kind of ‘truce’ between the two sides, which does not reflect what the Ramos camp is saying.