Manchester United’s pursuit of Sergio Ramos has suffered a serious setback after the Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez told the defender that he would not be sold under any circumstances, during a long meeting in Guangzhou, China.

Although there are still five weeks of the transfer window remaining, the belief from some quarters is that Ramos’s departure is now impossible and United are considering their next move. Ramos has not agreed a contract renewal at the Bernabéu and it is not yet clear whether he has finally given up on the move.

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The meeting, which ran into Sunday night, was attended by Pérez, Ramos, José Ángel Sánchez, Madrid’s chief executive, and Ramos’s brother and agent, René. Ramos reiterated his desire to join United, who have made two formal bids for the defender, but Pérez outright refused to countenance a sale. With two years left on his current contract, Ramos’s ability to force Madrid’s hand is limited. It is the club, ultimately, who hold sway.

United’s position is that they will not sell David de Gea unless they are allowed to sign Ramos. As it stands, the goalkeeper would be forced to stay at Old Trafford. Whether United will continue to stick to that stance, following the news from China and having confirmed the signing of the goalkeeper Sergio Romero from Sampdoria, remains to be seen.

Pérez sought to rebuild bridges, aware that his relationship with Ramos has become difficult, but more significant was his refusal to budge. He insisted that any attempt from Ramos to publicly declare his desire to leave would not make a departure more likely; it would rather just make the player’s relationship with the supporters difficult.

Ramos had previously told Madrid of his intention to leave at a meeting with Ángel Sánchez at the club’s Valdebebas training ground on 24 June and a tense telephone conversation with Pérez followed. At that point, Madrid set a fee that was prohibitively high but did not reject a move out of hand.

Neither player nor president had said anything publicly in the meantime, although Ramos’s camp did express their desire to leave Madrid for Manchester on Sky Sports and Louis van Gaal confirmed United’s interest when he talked about transfers as being a “process”, adding: “Maybe mister Ramos is in the process.”

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Madrid’s position has hardened over the last fortnight. During Iker Casillas’s send off at the Bernabéu, supporters chanted “Ramos is not for sale” and called for the president to resign. Pérez came under huge criticism for the way in which Casillas’s departure was handled. Allowing one captain to go was damaging enough; allowing the second captain to do so would have been even more risky.

That day, Pérez said that he had allowed Casillas to leave because that had been the player’s desire. Asked if that applied to other footballers, ie Ramos, he replied: “there are some players with contracts who want to go who will not be allowed to.” That remained his position in China.