• Madrid president to hold talks with Sergio Ramos in China • Defender wants to join Manchester United but may be offered new deal

Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, and the chief executive, José Ángel Sánchez, will hold talks with Sergio Ramos in China this weekend, when they will tell the central defender they do not want to sell him, despite his desire to leave for Manchester United.

Madrid are on tour in Australia, where Rafael Benítez insisted Ramos was staying “100%”, and they travel to China on Saturday. Pérez is expected to join the squad from Spain and will take the opportunity to speak to Ramos.

The Spain international has told Madrid he wants to depart for Old Trafford but he has two years left on his contract. Sources at the Bernabéu have not ruled out offering Ramos an improved contract, although that would represent a significant break from their position going back more than a year.

A new offer does not necessitate meeting in China but it would reflect the urgency of the situation and Madrid’s desire to be seen doing everything they can to keep their captain.

Ramos does not intend to back down. If this ends with a new contract, it will not be because that was his goal but because it became unavoidable. He will reiterate his desire to leave, insisting there is no turning back and that he wants only to join United, but he knows that if Madrid refuse to sell, he will have to stay.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sergio Ramos has two years left on his Real Madrid contract and may be offered improved, extended terms. Photograph: Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images

It may not be that simple, though, and the outcome of the meeting is impossible to predict. There are five weeks to go until the end of the transfer window.

Louis van Gaal has described transfers as a process, with the United manager saying: “Maybe Mr Ramos is in the process, you never know.” The club made an initial written bid of €40m (£28.2m) and reports in Spain have suggested there has been an improved offer.

United’s position remains that they will not let David de Gea go unless Madrid agree to negotiate on Ramos, and the player could try to force Madrid’s hand. Should United’s position, and that of Ramos, remain steadfast then Madrid would essentially have to decide whether it is more important for them to have De Gea or Ramos.

That would depend on the faith Madrid have in their existing goalkeepers, Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla, who has just joined from Espanyol for €6m, in principle as a back-up.

Perhaps more significantly, it would involve making a judgment on whether it would be problematic to keep a player who has expressed a desire to leave and what the supporters’ reaction towards him will be, not least after a media campaign that attacked him as a mercenary – a campaign Ramos’s camp suspected of having come from the club.

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The decision would also take into account the fact Ramos has two years on his contract, whereas De Gea has one. Both players want to leave and do so now. Madrid would be able to sign De Gea for free next summer, although the departure of Iker Casillas means they want the United goalkeeper this summer.

According to the newspaper El País, Madrid have signed a deal with De Gea which obliges them to pay him €15m if they do not sign him before the end of this transfer window.

Another factor is the pressure that has been brought to bear on Pérez. At Casillas’s Bernabéu send-off before the goalkeeper joined Porto, supporters chanted: “Ramos is not for sale!” The chant was not so much a hands-off message to United as a warning to Pérez not to sell and Madrid’s position has hardened from setting a prohibitively high price to insisting Ramos is not for sale.

Pérez said he had let Casillas leave because the 34-year-old wanted to go and the club had respected that. Asked whether that rule was applicable to other players, ie Ramos, he responded: “There are some players who have contracts and want to go who will not go.”

A few days later Benítez said Ramos would stay and if his words were a little lukewarm then they were firmer when he was questioned again on Thursday in Australia, although he did add the caveat: “Football is unpredictable.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Real Madrid train before their match against Manchester City.

Asked if Ramos would be at the Bernabéu next season, Benítez replied: “Yes.” He added: “For me, yes, 100%. Football, like life, is unpredictable but in this case it is as clear for me as I think it is for the club. Sergio will still be a Real Madrid player at the start of the season.”

“Football is curious,” Benítez said, when the issue was raised again. “I respect Van Gaal but what interests me is that Sergio continues. I want and expect that he will be here at the start of the season. He is fundamental.”